World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz yesterday outlined a
comprehensive strategy for tackling corruption, a serious
impediment to development and effective governments. Speaking in
Jakarta, Indonesia, Wolfowitz laid out a three-prong plan for
expanding the World Bank Group's work on governance and
anti-corruption at the country level, in Bank projects, and through
partnerships with various stakeholders.
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"Corruption is often at the very root of why governments don't
work," said Wolfowitz. "It weakens the systems and distorts the
markets. In the end, governments and citizens will pay a price, in
lower incomes, lower investment and more volatile economic
swings.? But when governments do work—when they tackle
corruption and improve their rule of law—they can raise their
national incomes by as much as four times."
At the country level, Wolfowitz said that governance and
anti-corruption measures will be strengthened in all Bank
instruments, including loans, grants, research and technical
assistance. Bank investments in areas such as judicial reform,
civil service reform, the media and freedom of information and
decentralization of public service delivery will be increased, and
progress will be measured through tools like the Doing Business
report issued annually by the International Finance Corporation and
global governance indicators. In addition, the Bank will continue
to work closely with Civil Society to enable these groups to
provide checks and balances and promote accountability in their
governments.?
"Fighting corruption is a long-term commitment and we cannot
expect results overnight," continued Wolfowitz. "It requires a
long-term strategy that systematically and progressively attacks
the problem, and it requires the commitment and participation of
government, citizens and the private sector."
In projects, the Bank is implementing a new system for
minimizing the risk of corruption in World Bank-funded projects.
Anti-corruption teams will be deployed in country offices to work
with local government institutions, such as audit units and
anti-corruption commissions, to protect Bank-supported projects and
strengthen public procurement systems. Anticorruption strategies
are being developed for World Bank projects and will be published
on the Internet to enable stakeholders to see what steps are being
taken to ensure resources are not diverted.
The Bank is strengthening its own investigation unit with the
necessary staff, skills and resources to detect fraud and to follow
up on allegations of corruption in Bank-financed projects,
particularly on high-risk projects.
"We are changing the way we design our projects, so that they
address the incentives and opportunities to fight corruption right
from the start," said Wolfowitz. "Enforcement alone will not cure
corruption. How much we do, and how much progress we make, depends
on the desire of both governments and civil society to create the
right setting for sound, strong, sustainable development."
The Bank will also expand partnerships with various groups that
have a stake in improving governance. The Bank will work with rich
countries to seek ways to prevent stolen cash from being moved to
foreign bank accounts and to hold private firms accountable for
exporting corruption to emerging economies. Wolfowitz is working
with the heads of multilateral development banks (MDBs) on a common
approach to fighting corruption and on a common strategy for
"blacklisting" firms that engage in corruption in MDB Bank projects
and for sharing information on these firms. The Bank will also
partner with the private sector, which experiences enormous losses
when corruption is pervasive and the rule of law is not
respected.
(China.org.cn April 12, 2006)