Third Annual Conference of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) Bern, May 9, 10 & 11, 2002 Artist: ROCCI PNoWB Third Annual Conference of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) Bern May 9, 10 & 11, 2002 Sponsored by the Parliament of Switzerland, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb Table of Contents Page Foreword 7 Program of the Conference 8 Summary Report 10 Keynote Speeches 7 James D. Wolfensohn President, The World Bank "Parliamentary Actions and Cooperation for Poverty Reduction" 16 7 Abdoulaye Wade, President, Senegal "NEPAD: A Partnership for Africa's Renewal?" 26 7 Mike Moore Director General World Trade Organization "Doha: A Trade Round for Development" 30 List of Participants 34 The Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Network on The World Bank 37 The Pan-European Dialogue of the World Bank 38 PNoWB Membership Form 39 Websites of Some Partner Organizations 39 Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb Foreword O n May 9-11, 2002 the members of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) met in Bern, Switzerland for their Third Annual Conference. The meeting took place in the Swiss Parliament to mark the tenth anniversary of Swiss membership in the Bretton Woods institutions. The attendance of 104 Members of Parliament from 42 countries helped to firmly establish the PNoWB as a parliamentary sounding board of the World Bank. The meeting underscored the important role that Parliamentarians play in international development. PresidentAbdoulaye Wade of Senegal made this point during his presentation of the NEPAD initiative. World Bank President James Wolfensohn said that he never visits a country now without seeking permission to meet with its parliamentarians. And WTO Director-General Mike Moore encouraged dialogue with Parliamentarians in order to ensure the transparency, accountability and credibility of multilateral agencies. In the various sessions of the conference two themes recurred: implementation and governance. The participants of the conference were challenged by Mr. Wolfensohn to focus on implementing the international consensus that emerged from the conferences in Doha and Monterrey and leading up to Johannesburg. He urged Parliamentarians to invest in their relationships with their governments to be able to play an active role in implementing these development initiatives. At the same time, participants discussed the role that Parliamentarians could play to strengthen governance structures in developing countries to create an environment conducive to the success of development policies. In merely three years' time, the PNoWB has become a truly global parliamentary network of informed and influential development activists. It aims to expand its involvement through its ongoing activities like the program of field visits, the PNoWB website and the handbook on the World Bank. The PNoWB Steering Committee, which welcomed Tony Worthington (UK) and Monica Frassoni (European Parliament) as new members this year pledged to continue to initiate and supervise these various activities to ensure that the discussions and ideas of the conference serve to enhance parliamentary action on development. The PNoWB Steering Committee and the World Bank would like to express their sincere thanks to the Parliament of Switzerland, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for hosting and sponsoring the event. Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb ØHOWCANTHEMDGSBEREACHED? Program of the ØPRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO Conference MAKE GLOBALIZATION WORK FOR THE POOR ØWHATAGENDAFOR THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIALNSTITUTION THURSDAY, MAY 9 ØTHE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTARIANS IN A 6:00-7:00p.m. NEWGLOBALGOVERNANCESYSTEM KEYNOTE SPEECH Abdoulaye Wade, Chairperson: President, Senegal Kimmo Kiljunen, Member of Parliament, Chairperson: Finland, Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of Ali Nouhoum Diallo, the PNoWB Speaker, Parliament of Mali Speakers: Gerald Ssendaula, Minister of Finance, 7:00-8:00p.m Cocktail Planning and Economic Development, Uganda Thomas C. Dawson, Director, ExternalAffairs, IMF 8:00-10:30p.m Monica Frassoni, Co-President, Green Party, OPENING DINNER European Parliament; Member of Porto Alegre WelcomeAddress Parliamentary Network Therese Froesch, City Counselor, City of Bern Mats Karlsson, Vice President, External Affairs, Bert Koenders, Member of Parliament, The World Bank Netherlands, Chair of the PNoWB Jomo K. Sundaram, Professor, University of James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank Malaya, Malaysia R E G I O N A L P A R L I A M E N T A R Y Discussion PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 12:00-1:00p.m. Speakers: DOHA:ATRADE ROUNDFORDEVELOPMENT? Charity K. Ngilu, Member of Parliament, Kenya Chair: (Africa) Tony Worthington, Member of Parliament, Suresh A. Keswani, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom India (SouthAsia) Keynote Speaker: Alejandro Foxley, Member of Parliament, Chile Mike Moore, Director General of the World (LatinAmerica) Trade Organization Nesrin Nas, Member of Parliament, Turkey 1:00-2:30 p.m. Lunch (Eastern Europe and CentralAsia) 2:30-4:00p.m FRIDAY, MAY 10 1.FOURPARALLELBREAKOUTSESSIONS FIGHTING POVERTY: THE ROLE OF 9:00-10:00a.m. PARLIAMENTARIANS** OPENING SESSION Chairperson: Chairpersons: Remo Gysin, Member of Parliament, Bert Koenders, Member of Parliament, The Switzerland Netherlands, Chair of the Steering Committee of Speakers: the PNoWB John Page, Director, Poverty Reduction Group, WelcomeAddress: World Bank Claude Frey, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Alex Wilks, Coordinator,Bretton Woods Project Committee, Parliament of Switzerland Keynote Speaker: 2.EDUCATION: THECHALLENGEOFDELIVERY James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank Chairperson: Session broadcast by videoconference in Adamou Ndam Njoya, Member of Parliament, Burundi, India, Nigeria and Uganda Cameroon and Member of the Steering Committee of the PNoWB 10:00-12:00p.m Speakers: FIRST SESSION: Mamadou Ndoye, Executive Secretary, R E A C H I N G T H E M I L L E N N I U M Association for the Development of Education in DEVELOPMENT GOALS: CRITICAL Africa (ADEA) CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS AND THE Tom Kessinger, General Manager, ROLEOFPARLIAMENTARIANS Aga Khan Foundation 3.ACTIVITIES/ORGANIZATIONOFTHEPNOWB SATURDAY, MAY 11 Speakers: Bert Koenders, Member of Parliament, The 9:00- 10:15 a.m Netherlands, Chair of the Steering Committee of THIRDSESSION: the PNoWB MONTERREY AND BEYOND: FUTURE OF Jean-Christophe Bas, Pan European Dialogue FINANCINGFORDEVELOPMENT Manager, World Bank Nicholas Dunlop, Director, E-Parliament ØWHATWERETHERESULTSOFMONTERREY? Initiative ØIF MONTERREY IS JUST A FIRST STEP, WHAT 4.THE ROAD TO JOHANNESBURG: HOW TO COMESNEXT? ACHIEVE THE GOALS OF DEVELOPMENT AND ØSHOULDDEVELOPMENTAIDBEDOUBLED? SUSTAINABILITY? Chairperson: Chairperson: Adelheid Troescher, Member of Parliament, Isabel Tocino Biscarolasaga, Member of Germany Parliament, Member of the PNoWB Steering Speakers : Committee, Chair of the Foreign Affairs' Maritta Koch-Weser, Director, Earth 3000 Committee, Spain Speakers: 4:00-4:30p.m Coffeebreak Oscar de Rojas, Executive Coordinator, Financing for Development, United Nations 4:30-6:00p.m Jean-Claude Faure, Chairman of the 1. THREE PARALLEL BREAKOUT SESSIONS DevelopmentAssistance Committee, OECD CREATING A POSITIVE BUSINESS AND Colin Bradford, Professor of Economics and INVESTMENT CLIMATE:HOW TO DO IT? WHAT International Relations, American University; ROLEFORPARLIAMENTARIANS? Former Chief Economist, US Agency for Chairperson: International Development Suresh A. Keswani, Member of Parliament, Matt McHugh, Counselor to the President of the India and Member of the Steering Committee of World Bank and former Member of the US the PNoWB Congress Speaker: Discussion Jean-François Rischard, Vice President for Europe, World Bank 10:15 - 11:00 a.m. Claude Revel, Director General, Confederation EDUCATION FOR ALL: BRIDGING THE GAP of International Contractors TROUGH INNOVATION Chair: 2.THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND THE Norbert Mao, MP, Uganda ROLEOFPARLIAMENTARIANS** Keynote Speaker: Chairperson: Georges Charpak, Nobel Prize Laureate John Williams, Member of Parliament, Canada Speakers: 11:00-12:15 Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Senior Research Fellow, FROMLONDONTOBERN: Christian Michelsen Institute, Norway REPORTING ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE Musikari Kombo, Member of Parliament, Kenya PNOWBANDLOOKINGATTHEFUTURE Robert Miller, Executive Director, Parliamentary Chairperson: Centre, Canada Bert Koenders, MP, the Netherlands and Chair of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank 3. HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT / THE 12:15-1:00 CHALLENGEOFHIV/AIDS WRAP-UPANDCONCLUSIONS Chairperson: Speakers: Paul Guenter, Member of Parliament, Bert Koenders, MP, the Netherlands and Chair Switzerland of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank Speakers: Jean-François Rischard, Vice President for Keith Hansen, Manager, Multi-Sectoral Europe,World Bank HIV/AIDS Project, World Bank Ruth Benghu, Member of Parliament, South 1:00 - 2:30 p.m Lunch Africa Jim Sherry, Senior Advisor to the Executive ENDofCONFERENCE Director, UNAIDS 8:00 - 10:00 p.m Dinner ** organized in partnership with the World Bank Institute Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb Summary Report Summary of Discussions and Relevant Outcomes for Parliamentarians 6 StakeholdersandDevelopment the challenge was how to extend successful experiences still further. The World Bank sought not to The need to define respective roles and build impose policies on countries, but true 'partnerships of constructive relationships among parliamentarians equals'. and other development stakeholders emerged as the key point of discussion in the opening session of this 6 Supporting the Millennium Development year's annual conference. Welcoming conference Goals participants to Switzerland's Federal Parliament building, Claude Frey, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Parliamentarians' role in helping countries Committee of Switzerland's Parliament, reflected achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on the need for constructive engagement between the was the main subject of the speeches that followed. Bretton Woods institutions and their stakeholders. He repeated the European call for reinforcing democratic Ugandan Finance Minister Gerard control over these institutions, and noted that the Ssendaula pointed to the critical successes on World Bank had opened itself up to discussions with poverty reduction, education and health in his country, NGOs, saying it was time that the 'elected where parliamentarians had been active in the PRSP representatives' of the people took an interest in the process. But progress is fragile in the region (while the debate. number of people living under $2 a day has declined globally, in Africa it has risen) and much work remains World Bank President James Wolfensohn to be done. said he welcomed parliamentarians' interest in the Bank and indeed never visited a country without In some areas, such as child and maternal seeking to meet with its parliamentarians, consultation health, cost is the greatest prohibiting factor, so it is with whom is inscribed in the PRSP process. He important to take advantage of the initiatives put in reminded conference participants that the breadth and place by donors to increase external flows to Africa. depth of parliamentary engagement with the Bank was Insofar as these initiatives set benchmarks for in part a function of parliamentarians' own governance and consultation, parliamentarians (who relationships with their administrations, who are the embody the democratic system) have a clear role to Bank's governors. It is in the Bank's interest that all play in ensuring transparency and accountability. stakeholders take an active interest in development At a more obvious level, parliamentarians also have a issues, but it cannot create the necessary role to play by initiating legislation that supports relationships. the MDGs, such as legislation on education and population control. The declaration from the UN Financing for Development conference in Monterrey, Mexico two IMF External Relations Director Thomas months earlier pointed in the direction of a 'new Dawson also emphasized transparency, saying the partnership' among stakeholders: developing Fund -- which supports the MDGs through its poverty countries would undertake capacity building, legal and reduction programs, through its crisis prevention work judicial reform, 'legal and deep' financial system (since crises always strike the poor first), through its reform and combat corruption, and donors would advocacy on trade issues and through its support for assist on capacity building and trade opening to UN monitoring of the MDGs -- now publishes its developing countries' benefit. This set of conditions country reviews for the benefit of parliamentarians, did not apply only to the signatories of the Monterrey among others. World Bank Vice President for declaration, Mr. Wolfensohn stressed. It also applied External Affairs Mats Karlsson also noted that the directly to the parliaments, who determine the Bank has introduced new instruments to help the willingness and ability of countries to live up to the public, including parliamentarians, track budget agreement. Countries' ability to effect the 'enormous expenditures. and consistent change in patterns of behaviour' implied by the Monterrey agreement and thereby The international financial institutions (IFIs) move to implementation, he said, would be the test of have a pragmatic interest in thus inviting parliamentarians' relationship with their parliamentary engagement, Mr. Dawson said, for IMF administrations. programs often require progress on legislation; programs with political support are more likely to work. In the discussion that followed with Members of Parliament in Burundi, India, Nigeria and Uganda, Member of the European Parliament and Mr. Wolfensohn acknowledged that the cost of Green Party Co-President Monica Frassoni also extending consultation for the Bank was high, but said reflected on the need for transparency, noting that the MDGs require accountable government at the countries made on rich countries; they won the debate global level. Countries must take responsibility for the on dismantling rich-country agricultural subsidies and actions of the IFIs they govern, and parliamentarians on technical assistance, which the World Bank is in particular should act jointly in supra-national bodies helping to provide. WTO accession is not such as the PNoWB and the Porto Alegre compulsory, and parliamentarians can decide parliamentary forum in order to coordinate action on whether adherence to the WTO is in their three fronts: debt relief, especially since proposals countries' interests or not. for an international currency transaction tax to finance debt relief would require parliamentary debate; 6 D e v e l o p m e n t C h a l l e n g e s f o r sustainable development, since international Parliamentarians treaties to protect the environment, such as the Kyoto Protocol, require ratification by legislatures; and The workshops that followed allowed trade, to ensure that the next WTO trade round is not pa r t i c i pa n ts t o d i s c u s s t h e c h a l l e n g e s completed at the expense of the environment and the parliamentarians face in trying to secure action on the aims of developing countries. following issues: poverty reduction; education; the environment, especially ahead of the World Summit University of Malaya Professor Jomo K. on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg; Sundaram sounded a note of caution, arguing that business and investment; the fight against corruption; there are reasons to withhold optimism about and health. democratizing the IFIs and bringing their programs in line with the MDGs. The record of how effective their In the session on environmentally sustainable policies have been in raising growth and reducing development, led by Earth 3000 Director Maritta inequality is too complex to elicit enthusiastic support Koch-Weser and German MP Adelheid Troescher, at this stage. That the governance structure of the IFIs participants regretted that parliamentarians were thus is determined by economic weight also militates far not allowed to register for the Johannesburg against democratizing control of the IFIs. summit unless they attended as part of their national Parliamentarians need to be vigilant, especially of delegations, making it difficult for them to address the WTO trade round, for which national executives issues that demand parliamentary action on a are for the most part ill-prepared. global level, such as proposals for taxing use of 6 global public goods and certification-based schemes ParliamentariansandTrade for public-private partnership. Parliamentary networks should work to ensure that In the following session, devoted to the Doha parliamentarians can attend relevant international Trade Round, WTO Director-General Mike Moore meetings as a group. Participants also pointed to acknowledged that parliamentary oversight was the need to ensure that future institutions or indeed missing at the IFIs to hold organizations such mechanisms set up to address environmental issues as his accountable to their member governments. include a role for parliamentarians in the governance While talk of 'parliamentarizing' the international structure. organizations may be premature, certainly parliamentary input is needed. Since the events in In the session on fighting corruption, led by Seattle, the WTO has reached out to different Kenyan MP Musikari Kombo, Odd-Helge Fjeldstad parliamentary networks, such as the Inter- of the Michelson Institute in Norway and Robert Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Miller of the Parliamentary Centre in Canada, MPs ParliamentaryAssembly. identified lack of political will as the most serious obstacle in the fight against corruption -- far more Mr. Moore noted that parliamentarians are intractable than 'technical' problems such as the lack needed to rally round trade negotiations. That the US of parliamentary libraries, ethics committees and audit Congress has the power to block trade initiatives mechanisms. While parliaments often emphasize the shows the critical role parliamentarians can play in need to fight corruption at the executive level, these matters. As China's accession to the WTO participants acknowledged that parliaments shows further, signing up to world trade rules can themselves are not always 'clean'. The demands of 'change the world': the stakes are high, and party financing and party loyalty undermine anti- parliamentarians should ensure that the terms on corruption legislation that parliaments ought to which their governments negotiate trade relations are support. transparent. To overcome this 'internal' obstacle, Responding to MPs' questions regarding the participants said sincere reformers should reach impact of trade liberalization in developing countries, beyond their parliamentary groups and pursue Mr. Moore said he would challenge the claim that partnerships with (1) civil society groups, who are developing countries have fared badly in trade independent of party interests; and (2) bilateral opening. The last WTO Ministerial Conference in and multilateral donors, to ensure that they do not Doha, Qatar was notable for the demands developing support 'shoddy' anti-corruption legislation Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb introduced by the executive branch to appease legislation passed in good time. donors. Indeed, argued Kenyan MP Charity Ngilu, donors should be prepared to exact a heavy price for corruption, not just by requiring anti-corruption Former Member of the US House of legislation to be passed but also, for instance, denying Representatives Matt McHugh, now a counsellor to visas to suspect officials and their entourages. Other World Bank President James Wolfensohn, pointed out participants suggested that anti-corruption coalitions that congressional approval of the ODA increase (including parliamentarians as well as civil society announced by the US administration in Monterrey groups) should jointly apply pressure on donors to would depend on several factors, including the require of governments that anti-corruption legislation (tightening) fiscal situation and the administration's be enforced and followed up with prosecutions. willingness to expend some political capital to explain to Congress the need to raise ODA. Most importantly, 6 MonterreyandBeyond the Congress would insist on conditionalities and evaluation mechanisms, so it was essential that the commitment to principles of good governance and That parliamentarians need actively to ensure policymaking enshrined in the Monterrey agreement that the commitments enshrined in the Monterrey have to be respected. Declaration are respected was the clear thrust of the following session. Looking back to the political developments that led to the Monterrey Declaration 6 EducationforAllthroughInnovation and looking ahead to next steps, UN Financing for Development Executive Coordinator Oscar de Rojas noted that Monterrey was not about pledging, Urging parliamentarians to take action on education initiatives, Nobel Prize laureate Georges although the US and the EU both announced Charpak pointed out that ignorance is one of the most significant ODA increases. Monterrey was driven by a urgent challenges of the new millennium. In an era of holistic agenda 'to address national, international and accelerating innovation, most people even in the systemic issues relative to financing for development industrialized world still think of technology as magic in the context of globalization and global or witchcraft, and as something that is very dangerous. interdependence.' Hence very real popular anxieties -- about weapons of mass destruction and the like -- and the real political Mr. de Rojas urged participants to read the danger of demagogues emerging to exploit such section of the Declaration entitled 'Staying Engaged.' anxieties. Noting that during the summit there was often a disconnect between what parliamentarians -- even In the push to meet the MDG of universal those from majority parties -- said and what their primary education by 2015, then, there needs to be an governments said, he also appealed to participants for emphasis on scientific teaching and learning. This support in the follow-up process. Ms. Koch-Weser is needed not only at higher levels of education, said also suggested that parliamentarians form Dr. Charpak, but more important still, at the primary 'implementation watch' groups to monitor key level. This does not mean giving children specialized indicators as a way of breaking down the 'monolith' of scientific training early on, but rather ensuring that the Monterrey Declaration into measurable parts. they have the basics of education and exposing them early on to scientific methodthat is, to learning through O E C D D e v e l o p m e n t A s s i s ta n c e observation and rational argument, rather than Committee Chairman Jean-Claude Faure added through dogma. By teaching children to think for that the role of parliamentarians -- driven by solidarity themselves, by taking away some of the 'childish and self-interest -- in the follow-up to Monterrey was magic' and exposing them to the deeper magic of twofold: advocacy on the issues that 'crystallized' in scientific learning, we can help them to be less fearful Monterrey (including poverty reduction, globalization and uneasy in the technologically innovative age in and ODA) and the elaboration of policies that live up which they live. This can make all the difference in the to the commitments in the Monterrey agreement. way children enter productive (and political) life. American University Professor of While the MDG of universal primary education Economics and International Relations Colin by 2015 emphasizes enrollment numbers, with the Bradford, formerly Chief Economist of USAID, said World Bank emphasizing that completion targets parliamentarians also had a role to try to make the should also be met, Dr. Charpak's argument adds the complex political process of the Monterrey conference dimension of quality to the discussion. Achieving intelligible to the public. We should now be in the quality learning outcomes need not be costly for phase of implementation, the phase during which poor countries, said Dr. Charpak. Poor countries support from parliamentarians is needed so that can produce the basic equipment and learning resources are mobilized and the necessary materials for three times less than in industrialized countries, and education strategies that focus on Johannesburg a 'Parliamentary Implementation teacher training would allow the dissemination of basic Watch' system that would monitor progress made in methods at minimal cost. Dr. Charpak suggested the implementing the commitments made at the Doha, creation of a central coordinating body with Monterrey and Johannesburg Summits -- a project international support that would train teachers and that would be coordinated by Ms. Koch-Weser. distribute basic scientific equipment, textbooks and the like. At the end of the debate, the chair proposed the appointment of Tony Worthington (UK) and Monica 6 Frassoni (MEP) as members of the Steering ActivitiesofthePNoWB Committee to replace Hilde Johnson and Bowen Wells who had left their respective parliaments -- a proposal In a workshop session chaired by PNoWB approved unanimously by the audience. Steering Committee chair Bert Koenders (The Netherlands) and concluded in the plenary, members 6 Conclusions of the network discussed new directions for the activities of the network and its strategic objectives. Summing up the discussions at the By way of opening the debate, World Bank conference, World Bank Vice President for Europe Pan-European Dialogue Manager Jean-Christophe Jean-François Rischard noted that discussions had Bas presented the progress report recording the clearly defined at least two roles for international PNoWB's achievements since the London conference development-minded parliamentarians: (1) keeping in January 2001. The success of the initiative was due up the pressure on international commitments to what he described as a "four I" approach: through, for instance, monitoring groups along the informality, issues orientedness, inclusiveness and lines of a Monterrey 'implementation watch'; and (2) on information sharing. PNoWB Steering Committee the developing-country side, to step up efforts on member Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland) then outlined the improving governance. He urged parliamentarians to objectives of the program of field visits and the agenda become 'informed and activist development actors'. for the coming months. Steering Committee member To this end, networks such as the PNoWB, rather than Suresh Keswani (India) also shared his experience in merely evaluating the World Bank -- which, arguably, establishing a regional chapter for the network in India, is already 'over-evaluated' -- should also use the and the productive and fruitful interaction generated Bank's resources: for example, its extensive store of with the World Bank country office in Delhi. data on developing countries and policy research and Parliamentarians from Africa and Central Europe its series of training programs for strengthening expressed their interest in replicating this initiative. legislatures. The PNoWB should also act as a mutual support network for members seeking to raise Web Parliament Executive Director Nick activism on issues such as governance and economic Dunlop stressed the need for regular and in-depth policy. exchange of experience among MPs from all over the world and the huge potential which technology and his project in particular could offer to the PNoWB. Thanking the Swiss Parliament for hosting the PNoWB conference, Mr. Rischard noted that Numerous MPs from various regions Switzerland had actively contributed both funds and emphasized the need for capacity building and ideas to support progressive initiatives in international strengthening parliaments. Rick Stapenhurst of the development, together with other 'enlightened World Bank Institute (WBI) helpfully presented the shareholders' such as the Netherlands, Finland and program of training and seminars organized by WBI on Norway, whose governments had encouraged the budget accountability, the role of parliaments in Bank to reach out to parliamentary networks such as fighting corruption and his willingness to work closely the PNoWB. with members of the PNoWB. John Williams (Canada) announced his initiative to create a global network of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC) that would officially be launched in Ottawa in October 2002 and proposed to create close links and build alliances with the PNoWB. Parliamentarians present were unanimous in saying that the network should take an active part in supporting the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals to halve world poverty by 2015. Mr. Koenders presented a proposal of the Steering Committee to create at the occasion of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb Third Annual Conference of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) Bern May 9, 10 & 11, 2002 Sponsored by the Parliament of Switzerland, D I R E K T I O N F Ü R E N T W I C K L U N G U N D Z U S A M M E N A R B E I T D E Z A D I R E C T I O N D U D E V E L O P P E M E N T E T D E L A C O O P E R A T I O N D D C D I R E Z I O N E D E L L O S V I L U P P O E D E L L A C O O P E R A Z I O N E D S C S W I S S A G E N C Y F O R D E V E L O P M E N T A N D C O O P E R A T I O N S D C A G E N C I A S U I Z A PA R A E L D E S A R R O L L O Y L A C O O P E R A C I O N C O S U D E the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the Swiss Agency for Development The World Bank and Cooperation (SDC) Keynote Speeches Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb Monterrey as President Whad told you. These Parliamentary Actions and meetings not only discussed NEPAD, the African Cooperation for initiative, but spoke also about a new partnership that is very similar in form to the partnership of Poverty Reduction NEPAD. The partnership is very simple to state but Opening Speech by very difficult to achieve. It says basically that the countries that are in a stage of development James D. Wolfensohn undertake to manage their countries on a basis of President, the World Bank building the capacity of their administration, and of dealing with the question of legal and judicial reform T hank you very much to you, Mr. Koenders so that human and property rights can be protected. [Bert Koenders, Member of Parliament, The These countries would also have a financial sector Netherlands, Chair of the PnoWB], and Mr. that is transparent and makes funds available from Frey [Claude Frey, Chair of the Foreign Affairs the highest level of business down to micro-credit. Committee, Switzerland]. It is very nice to see you This would be a transparent and deep financial and friends again. When I was first in Switzerland in system. Finally, this partnership involves the combat 1959-60, doing some teaching in Lausanne, I against corruption, a cancer that affects so many dreamed of becoming a Swiss citizen. I was told that parts of the world, including the developed world. this could be possible if I knew some people in Berne. Never did I believe that I This was the set of undertakings that would one day be standing in the was given by the leaders of the very Parliament, this important developing world; not conditional, not place, giving an address. imposed, not insisted upon, but offered. These undertakings were This is a pleasure for me because I offered because it makes sense for the feel that Switzerland has added citizens of developing countries to live enormously during the ten years of in environments where they can enjoy its participation in the World Bank. It equal access, equal opportunity and has been a very constructive partner voice. That was on the one side. with us. We have done many things together and I see Walter Frei at the The other side included the back who has just returned from undertakings that were given by the Vietnam. After my seven years in developed countries. They simply said, "If you do office, he told me that things are actually working in that, we will assist on capacity building, we will open the field. I said, "I told you so", to which he replied our markets to trade and we will increase that "In Switzerland, seeing is believing, but development assistance." This is a very simply touching is even better." He has seen that with our stated partnership but one where there is a mutual work in Vietnam, there is in fact a far greater contact requirement to ensure that the conditions are with the people with whom we are working. I believe fulfilled. This is of course, an issue that not only that all of you, as parliamentarians, can most relates to the signatories of this agreement, the assuredly continue your observations and your administrators. It is a set of conditions that exists on criticisms of the institution, but I think that I can both sides and which comes directly back to the report to you that there has been real progress. It is parliamentary bodies. progress towards what Mr. Frey was talking about; participation and a true sense of trying to make our institution democratic. In this partnership, it is impossible for either side to perform without the support of the parliamentary bodies. Therefore, parliamentarians are facing a That is the reason that we are particularly happy to situation where there are undertakings from the have the opportunity to be with you here today, and leadership on both sides to have a form of also to have our colleagues in Burundi, India and partnership that requires support from the Uganda with us by satellite. Let me quickly tell you parliamentary bodies. It is clearly stated; it is out where I think we are in relation to the development there and now it needs to be done. It is for the process that is ongoing. We had our meetings in parliaments to decide whether they are willing and able to meet the conditions on each side. I can tell we work together over a period of years in order to you that it is already being done in some countries insure that these undertakings are met. I would add and not being done in other countries. It is typically, the dimension of time to the agreement that was in my experience, a tough thing to do if you try to signed. This will not happen overnight. It requires introduce legislation on legal and judicial reform, consistent and most effective work by the replace judges and change legislation and try and parliamentary bodies to make sure that this gets change a culture that may not have been at the done. This is because the pressure in countries highest level of judicial procedure, equity or justice. comes from parliamentary bodies, which It easy to state this but difficult to implement. sometimes need to clean up their acts themselves. It is therefore really quite important that the group that is here, that understands these issues and that is The same is true of corruption, particularly in committed to this sort of programme, can take a countries where corruption is on both sides of the programme that is clearly stated but also recognise partnership, from the head of state down. I have had that it is a challenge that will take five to ten years to dozens of discussions in many countries ­ I have implement. The changing of a culture is not now been to one hundred and twenty countries ­ on completed overnight. We need to be honest with the subject of corruption. These discussions are each other that these cultures do not change very often the same. The language used is always overnight, any more than the culture of the World the same. "Corrupt? Not us. Me? No. Head of State? Bank has changed overnight. Changing our culture Impossible. Parliament? Never! Legal system? to be a listening, non-aggressive, consultative Incomprehensible. Nothing ever happens in any culture that also listens to cultural differences has country." In fact, the opposite is true. People look at taken time. It has taken me seven years with my you as if to say that only a handful of minor civil colleagues to try and turn the ship around and I servants are involved in corruption when both of us believe that we have succeeded. It is no easier in a know that corruption often goes to the very top. This country and it takes time, commitment and honesty is not an issue that the bank can fix by edict or that to say what are the real problems. any individual can fix by statement. This is something that requires momentum-building in terms of dealing with a question that is very often This leads me to the second point. What we have deeply ingrained in the functioning of the society. decided at the Bank is the philosophy that we have We are often told that a customs official cannot discussed tonight. We decided at the Spring refuse bribes if he is not paid enough to live on. How meetings that we have had the needed discussions can a government official fulfil the needs of his family and debates, so now let us talk about if he is paid half of a living salary? implementation. It is now the time to implement what we know needs to be done. There is no debate on the fundamentals. These are issues that are known very well to you. To me, they represent very serious challenges to this partnership. This is because I am concerned about For our next meeting, we have decided to take two the fact that the partnership is now very clearly or three specific objectives in which we can see stated and it can now be very easy for neither side to whether each side will perform. These are based on perform. Or, in the event that the performance is not the consultative process of the Comprehensive up to a standard that the donor countries are looking Development Framework and the Poverty for, then they can say, "Look, you have not done Reduction Strategies which have led to discussion what we said. Where is the honest legal system? with governments, with our colleagues in the Where is the corruption being eradicated? Where is international institutions, with civil society, with the the organisation? What have you done on Capacity private sector, and with parliamentarians. I do not go Building?" to a country now without seeking permission to see the parliamentarians. This agreement that was reached in Monterrey - which on the surface is wonderful - requires an The problem of consultation between partnerships enormous and consistent pattern of behaviour that and the administrations of the country is not a will not change the current situation overnight. I problem that is created by the World Bank. It is therefore simply say to you that what is now most something that we come into. You can blame us for critical is that if these undertakings have been given, not consulting with you. You can say that it would be Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb so much better if you were to deal with countries of varying levels and try and see how we parliamentary committees than dealing with those can work within the framework of this partnership in people who are in the administration. After all, we order to deal with what we call "Fast-Tracking have the power. I would ask you to consider for a Primary Education in Ten Countries." We will look at moment that it is not we who create your the inhibitions, the need for funding and how we can relationship with the administration. We are frame programmes that are not those required for obligated to deal with the administrations of the one year but those that are instead needed for ten countries with which we deal. They are our years. Remember that you cannot change an shareholders and our governors. The governor education system in one or two years. We have to from each of the countries is not a representative of start at the beginning and retrofit some of what we the parliament. It is the Finance minister or the are doing over a protracted period. The key change Development minister. They are the people who are that we will have in the world is with the education my bosses, according to statute. When I come to system. So we are seeking to do this and will then parliaments, and it varies by country, I have to confront the donors and say, "In these ten countries, obtain the approval of the ministers. Can you this is the additional support that we need." It will not imagine me coming to a country and setting up be theoretical but will be practical. We can then see independent meetings with parliamentary what it feels like to commit for ten-year programmes supervisory bodies without the approval of my host? in countries to ensure that they get universal It is simply not possible. If you open the doors, I want primary education for boys and girls. to speak to Parliament. We want to consult. Who is more representative of civil society than elected The second area that we are prioritizing is parliamentary bodies? But you have to help us by healthcare and in particular HIV/AIDS; HIV/AIDS dealing with the government officials if you want a because we have an international trust fund and broader and deeper contact. We will welcome you assistance from the bank. There is actually a lot of at the Bank. We will do anything that is reasonable. money available for fighting HIV/AIDS - but what are As you know, we have done it very often for the inhibitions? Are they social, cultural, gatherings like this and for groups. administrative or due to a lack of will? I nearly always wear an AIDS button when I go to certain The effectiveness of either the Bank or the Fund countries because although they are full of AIDS dealing with parliamentary bodies is a function of problems, people are not recognising that it is the your existing domestic relationship between the main challenge. We are therefore going to focus on Parliament and your Administration. That is it and see what are the opportunities and difficulties. something that I cannot solve. It is something that I can be supportive of or be ready to follow The third thing that we will look at is rural enthusiastically. I would however urge not simply to development and in particular enfranchisement of shoot the messenger. We are there to try and work local communities. We have discovered that not with you because we know that if we are coming up making poor people the object of charity but instead with something, it needs parliamentary support. I part of the solution - by giving the responsibility to must tell you that in many cases when that does not the people in poverty and in the field - is the most happen, the Administration says that it is the effectively proven way of leveraging up the activities Parliament that will not approve this. We are ready that we have. Very often, this can be done through to fulfil any undertakings but I would urge you to existing levels of governance. In India, the think in terms of that linkage that is essentially Punchayat level is very effective in running things. domestic and your problem. We will be supportive This is not true in all countries. Sometimes, it has to but help us. be done directly. That will be the third thing that we do. So from our point of view, you can expect no Let me now pass to what we are doing in terms of more philosophy. At the partnership level we will our development strategy and this partnership. We take these three specific areas and bring them to are going to focus on three specific things. First, we the annual meeting and to Johannesburg where of are going to do a fast track on education in ten course, we will add the other issues of sustainability countries. This is because our own research and and environmental considerations that will be part of the general principles arising out of the Millennium the Johannesburg conference. Development Goals have shown that education is clearly central. We are therefore going to take ten I believe that we are now at the stage in the whole believe that it is necessary. We will maintain these development paradigm where we have established questions in our working. Please kindly tell us what that it should be consultative, that it should include exactly will be the process of activity of working and parliamentary bodies as well as civil society and what will require our constant attention on the work private sector. The donors need to get their act that you are trying to look at through participation. together in order to work better together. The Participation can be at many levels and we are partnership between the developed countries and prepared to participate in a whole way in order to developing countries is now set up in a framework support the activity. The three branches that you and we are now going to test it in practice. I believe indicated ­ Education, Health and Rural that this represents real progress. It will mean that Development ­ seem to be of great importance to we will be coming back to you in order to see, in India. At the moment, we are also engaged in these many cases, whether the parliamentary bodies are activities and have to work it out. also prepared to act. This will be a test of the relationship between the administration and the Mr. Wolfensohn: Thank you for your question, Mr. parliamentary bodies because all of us have to work Justice Mishra. Let me first of all say that India is a together. This is the message that I want to give you. special case because it represents 1 billion people We have moved philosophy towards action and we out of the 6 billion people on the planet. We are look forward to working with you. I will be delighted to therefore dealing with not just a country but with a take questions if there are any. Thank you very world. As I have discovered, as I have travelled all much. over your country, there is everything in your country from the very poor to the very rich. It is clear that the Questions &Answer Session Bank can have an influence but even with the very A representative from India: This is Ramanja substantial programme that we have, it is very Mishra, a Member of Parliament in the Upper difficult to affect the whole country. What we are House. I was formerly Chief Justice of the country doing in your country is something that is occurring and Chairman of the Human Rights Commission. in quite a number of areas. We are working through We have very carefully listened to your address, Mr. the central governments in order to reach the President, and we feel that we are at one with you in provincial governments who, essentially in your the philosophy; that it is a question of country, are competing for funds. They are saying implementation. India is a large country and we have that we will adopt the following programmes under areas of every type available in the world awaiting the direction of the federal government and we will development. We need a lot of co-operation, a lot of work together at the provincial level and sometimes funds and continuous reaction. We are prepared, as even at the city and state levels. This is because in a members of Parliament, to co-operate fully with your country of your size, we find that in order to be activities. We are prepared also to work out the hands-on, we need to be dealing at a smaller level administration and develop the understanding so than in dealing at a level of 1 billion people. We are that there may not be any difficulty in therefore working with your government at two implementation. What is necessary is the levels; first at the strategic level centrally and then at continuous flow of friendliness. We must have the the implementation level through the states. We feeling that this is not a gift from one part of the have found, Sir, that this is the way in which we can country or world to the other part. It is a continuous be effective except then we have two elected bodies process of discharging the universal responsibility to deal with; the federal body and the state body. So that is on every shoulder of mankind for the we are finding that the course of consultation is development of the world home. It is in India that we doubled and then when we go from the state to the realise that the world was one family and the whole city level, one has another group of elected officials world was one home. This was about 7,000 years to deal with. So as we get closer to the project itself, ago. This realisation has held humanity together and we have to deal with multiple agencies; three lots of has given a philosophy to mankind that has been officials and three lots of elected officials. This is persistent in trying to improve mankind to a higher where it becomes very wearing on the part of our order. The question is how much co-operation you colleagues because you need to have everyone on- require and how much co-operation you are looking side but you must also have the support of your for. If you look for co-operation, it will be ever flowing elected colleagues as you move down. So India is a from parliamentarians in this country. We agree special case with which we have now been working about the questions that you have raised and for several years at the state level. I can give you one Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb example. If you take Andhra Pradesh of which there poverty and fight against the scourge of Aids. I is a representative here, it is a state of 80 million would also like to say that our National Assembly is people. We are seeking to assist the government in happy and proud to belong to The Parliamentary their work on technology and on e-government. Network on the World Bank. I would finally like to They are laying fibre optic cables to reach 80 million launch an urgent appeal to the World Bank to be our people so that they can do e-government in every faithful intermediary towards the donors. Thank you. village and every town. For most of our clientele, their countries are not 80 million people in size. In Mr. Wolfensohn: I would simply say that I hope to your country, in one state, we are hitting 80 million be in your country in eight weeks time and that we people with the state leader and we have moved are certainly trying to give you the support that you from federal to state and now we are moving to city are seeking and we look forward to our continuing level in your state, as you know well. The point that I work in a more peaceful environment. am trying to make is that the scale of this enterprise A representative from Uganda: Thank you very is enormous. We need to work together to ensure much. My name is Ifram Kamuntu and I am a that successful examples can be replicated in other Member of Parliament and Chairman of the places. It is terrific if we deal with 80 million people Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Planning and but we still have another 920 million people in India Economic Development. We have a team that is who may not have that same experience. So we present in Berne and so I am making a comment need to do two things in the work that we do. We from home. My first comment is to the President of have to bridge parliamentary elections so that we the World Bank, Mr. Wolfensohn. You talked about can have these programmes that go beyond a partnership. Meaningful partnership can only be a parliamentary cycle. This is because changing partnership of equals based on shared vision, things is not typically done in two or four-year cycles. comparative advantage and the specialisation of It requires a ten-year commitment. Secondly, we skills. I would like to hear your comments on the need to think of the issue of scale, how we can take relationship between the World Bank and member projects that work and scale them up. Sir, the countries, particularly Uganda. To what extent can question that you ask is very specific and I am giving you say that the partnership that you have with you just a sketchy answer. However, I am telling you Uganda is a partnership of equals based on those that in India, the problems are very different than comments that I have made, both in terms of policy they are in smaller countries. We are essentially analysis and implementation and monitoring of dividing India up, with the assistance of your outcomes. That is my first comment. My second government, into a series of smaller countries comment, Mr. President, relates to the three areas where one state can have 80 million people. That that I have mentioned, areas of education, health gives you a sense of the scale of the problem that we and rural development. In Uganda, the introduction have to deal with. of universal primary education has had a positive impact and you can see that the number of students A representative from Burundi: Good morning enrolled in primary school has jumped from 6 million from Bujumbura. The first statement will be made by to 6.7 million children. That has posed new Honourable Angel Nihuhiru who is the Secretary challenges in terms of the quality of education being General of the NationalAssembly. received, the student-teacher ratio and the teaching materials. But more seriously, 88% of our children Angel Nihuhiru: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Ladies are stunted because they do not have sufficient and Gentlemen, Good Morning. I have no specific food. I would appreciate your comments on whether issue to raise for the moment on what has just been universal primary education should not be taken in said. I would just like to take this opportunity to tandem with nutrition. convey sincerely my gratitude to the World Bank for I am a Member of Parliament and visit these all the activity that has so far been accomplished to schools. By 11 o'clock, the children in Primary Two, assist Burundi, particularly during the last nine years Three, Four and Five ­ who are very young and of social and economic crisis. Mr. Chairman, have nothing to eat at school­ will not be learning Burundi has never before been in such need of help anything from this time for this reason. Does the in order to fight an increasing poverty that nowadays partnership consider that it is not just a question of deeply strikes all the strata of its population. Allow going to class to learn Arithmetic, English and me to take this opportunity to ask you to increase the History? The student has to have something in his loans granted to our country in order alleviate stomach in order to help him to learn. This is an issue that is critical. On the question of HIV/ADIDS, I develop. On Education For All, let me say that we think that an effort has been made but still, when one are the people that have, I think, introduced the has 1.9 million affected by HIV and 1.7 million notion that education is not just getting the kids to children under the age of the fifteen being orphaned, the school door. It is about getting them to the door, this challenge is still formidable. My last comment giving them an education and making sure that they relates to rural development. I represent a rural finish knowing something. constituency and 90% of Ugandans live in rural In that sense, the Millennium Development Goals areas. If we can measure the priority that is put on need to be examined more carefully than just rural development, we could look at the budget and number crunching. That is the way in which we are find out if 90% of the budget corresponds to 90% of proceeding in all our education programmes, the people living in rural areas. To what extent, for looking at both quality and sustainability. I would add instance in your relationship with our country, do you to that point that we always link nutrition to the see the budget allocation of national resources education process. This is because in too many of going to where most people stay, the rural areas? our countries, 25-30% of the kids are physically My last comment, Mr. President. You made a damaged by the time that they get to school, reference to your interaction with countries and because of lack of nutrition, or continue to have heads of state in relation to corruption. You damage done to them in their early years, once mentioned, "You talk about corruption and everyone again because of lack of nutrition. So the linkage says that he is not corrupt but behind this you know between health and education is undeniable and it that this is happening." What have you done or what needs to be part of the programme - otherwise you should be done? If you know that it is happening, in have children who are seeking to learn but who are your own words you know that it is happening. And incapable of learning because they are being then what? If the issue is implementation, then physically affected. On the attribution of budget in what? Mr. President, I would like to thank you very your country, I really can not tell you very much much indeed. I was invited to be present in Berne because I do not know other than to say that of the but cannot attend because Parliament is in session. 1.2 billion people living in poverty around the world, Let me add that lack of means have added to my 80% of them live in rural areas. It is therefore crucial problems. I am privileged that the technology has that one deals with the question of rural areas and made it possible for me to participate while still at that it what we are trying to do. home. Finally, on the question of corruption, the great difficulty about corruption is that probably everyone Mr. Wolfensohn: Thank you very much. Let me try in this room and everyone on the screens knows quickly to answer the questions. Firstly, on the precisely what we are talking about. They know question of partnership of equals, I truly believe that where it is, they know who is corrupt, they can tell we have moved away from trying to dictate what is almost to the dollar how much they are getting, and done in a country before we visit the country. The they can quietly tell you how it happens and in some whole basis of the consultative process now, of the cases, some of the people to whom you are talking Comprehensive Development Framework, and of are corrupt themselves. So this is an extraordinarily the Poverty Reduction Strategies is to have difficult issue. It is reality and as I have said three consultation. The evidence that we have had thus times, it happens on both sides of the divide, both on far from 38 countries is that clearly the consultative the developing and developed sides. In Europe, I process is working, but at different paces. Some are remind you, until 12 months ago, in many countries working spectacularly well and in other cases, less bribes were deductible for tax purposes. So this is a well. The one thing that I can tell you is that the matter that you in Parliaments have fixed and are momentum is now clear and the existence of a continuing to fix. It is clear that this is an endemic comprehensive process has now been issue. The only thing that I can say is that it is acknowledged by the G-8, by the Monterrey necessary to stand up and fight it. It is also very consensus and by the preliminary work being done difficult. Some of the comments made last night for Johannesburg. So all I can say is that there has about our imperfections in terms of effectiveness - I been a seismic shift in the last seven years towards know and the speakers know it ­ they can be the a more equal process. I believe that we have made a result of corruption. This is a hidden subject but is lot of progress and I think that we will continue to also a real subject. The only thing that we can do make progress. The battle is not yet won but I think about that is to be transparent and try and put light that as we get a better trust on either side, it will on it. I remind you that until six years ago, the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb President of the World Bank was not allowed to one-fifth of the world. The real challenge that all of speak about corruption. When I arrived at the Bank, us have, from the developed and developing I was told that, "You cannot use the "C" word." The countries, is confronting that issue. I believe that 11 "C" word was corruption. I asked why and they said September was a point in time when at least some it is political and " You are not allowed to speak people recognised that there are no walls. I would about political issues." That is true. The General urge this body to think in terms of a world without Counsel took me aside. No President of the World walls. That is why this group is so important to come Bank, until six years ago, had ever made a speech together. This is because what each of you is doing with the word "corruption" in it. When I made the is not from a separate country. You come together speech at the annual meeting and talked about the as parliamentarians of that single planet. Maybe we cancer of corruption, within six months it was on the can fuse together an understanding of the interests agenda of the Development Committee and 12 of each of us, which are the same. The issue of months later every minister talked about corruption. global equity and the issue of global peace are the The question is, if you talk about it, that is one thing issue of poverty. If we cannot deal with the but if you do something about it, that is another. questions of poverty and equity, there will be no What we need to do is to have the support of a group peace for any of us. I wanted to say that, Mr. like this that is so transparently honest that you can Koenders, because I think that of all the things that lead your colleagues into understanding that this is happened since we last met, this needs to be for many, the central issue. I say therefore that we addressed because it changes the nature of your join you in the fight but that it is a fight that we have to group. It is not just one country talking to another in do together. order to gain experience. It is fusing a group that I would like to make just one other point, if I may, Mr. faces a common problem and that problem is global Koenders, and that is this: The one other change stability. I think that it makes it even more important that has occurred in Monterrey and in our thinking is in what you are doing. That is just an aside that I as a result of 11 September. There is a greater wanted to add. understanding that of the 6 billion people in the world, 5 billion live in developing countries and 1 From Bangladesh: Thank you Mr. President. First billion live in developed countries. It used to be the of all, I must say that it is always such a privilege to case that many people thought that if you live in a listen to you. I was a little disappointed last night but developed country, you could live behind a wall and you assured us that you would be speaking today. It that the developing world was out there. Many was indeed a pleasure to listen to you. Coming from people thought that if you were kind-hearted or Bangladesh, a very poor country, I would like to tell adventurous, you go out and do something in the you at the same time that we have not been listed as developing world and then come back to the safety one of the HIPC countries. Over the past 30 years, and the environment of the developed world. This we have borrowed nearly USD 30 billion, mainly has not been true for years, but it was a state of from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and mind. 11 September brought to the attention, at other bilateral donors. We kept up our repayments least of the American public, that events that by using our own means and by working on the happen elsewhere can have a direct and specific major policy of poverty eradication. Although we impact on people behind that wall. For me, the have not achieved many successes, somehow we image of the World Trade Centre collapsing was the have been able to carry on. One of the reasons why image of this imaginary wall coming down. We are we succeeded was that we set our own agenda. As linked by environment, by crime, by finance, by you rightly mentioned, one of the agendas that we trade, by drugs and by terror. What is necessary for picked up was education. We took a decision one all of us to understand in an inter-parliamentary month ago that in primary schools, each student will group is that this issue of equity and of poverty is be paid 100 taka per month, the equivalent of USD 2 now something that is a universal issue. It is not an per month. This project was started with our own issue for each country; it is an issue of global money. The World Bank came to support us as they stability and peace. assumed that it was a good project. We also And it is not a static issue. The world will move from supported Women's Scholarship programmes in 6 billion to 8 billion in the next 30 years. All but 50 the girls' schools up to the pre-university level. Each million people will go to the developing world. In the girl is given a free study stipend of USD 2 per month. year 2030, it will be 7 billion out of 8 billion. Today, Once again, this is a programme that was not the split of income is 80:20; 80% of the income to initially supported by the World Bank. The World Bank came later to appreciate this programme and think in terms of neo-liberal policies, we do not came to our support. These are some of the ways espouse payment for education in public school that we tried to go forward. More recently; with the systems or in health systems. We want to make it as globalisation and with the squeezing of the trade open as possible for people to get access to regime, we are facing problems with our foreign education and the availability of information on our exchange reserves. The consequent reduction in education and health programmes can be obtained the garment industry has led us to embark on a new on-line if you want the details, or you can write to area that is called the Information and me. It is enough to say that we were and are very Communication Technology. A new ministry was supportive of universal education and healthcare in created last month and I have been given Africa for free. Those are the programmes that we responsibility for the portfolio of this new ministry. are seeking to do. If that is a neo-liberal policy, then I This is an area where, I would like to say, we will am very happy that we have that policy. need your support, both moral and substantial. I would also say that, in terms of agriculture, we are Thank you very much. vigorously fighting against the issue of subsidies of the importing countries. The simple number is this. From Kenya: Mr. President, the areas that you The developed countries are providing overseas have touched on ­ Education, Health and Rural development assistance at the level of around USD Development- are very important areas. As you are 55 billion per year. The level of agricultural going to deal with them, I would like to ask: What subsidies today in developed countries is USD 350 you are going to do with the old neo-liberal policies billion per year.Agricultural subsidies in Europe and that you had for countries like ours in terms of the United States run at six to seven times the size health, education and cost sharing.Are you going to of the total of overseas development assistance. change those policies to ensure that you actually This represents USD 1 billion per day in assistance deal with these issues effectively? On rural to farmers in developed countries. The issue of development, agriculture is obviously an important trade and in particular the issue of trade in issue and through the earlier policies of agriculture and agricultural goods is the single liberalisation, you made us not subsidise our biggest problem for many of the developing agriculture. This caused a lot of problems in various countries where the cost of production is much less countries. Are you going to change these neo- but where access to the market is limited because of liberal policies that you had implemented in the subsidies and tariffs. Consequently, the trade past? Thank you. element is not made possible for the developing countries to work their way out of their problems and increase the standard of living. You will therefore Mr. Wolfensohn: Let me try first of all to answer on find in all our statements a vigorous attack on Bangladesh and HIPIC. The fact is that we had to subsidies. It is almost the most important issue in draw the line somewhere and in effect, your good terms of development. If we get another five or ten behaviour counted against you because you have billion dollars in ODA, it is important but if we could been able to live within the framework of your cut subsidies from USD 350 billion to USD 100-150 borrowings and paid back your debts. What this has billion, it opens a space for developing countries to done is give you greater access to the credit export. But that is the Doha round. We are trying markets. We, I think, have been very supportive of very hard and you all need to work very hard in order your country and will continue to be so because of to recognise that trade is integral to development that. On the issue of technology, our institution is assistance. That sort of decision is a very difficult putting a lot of emphasis on it. One of the things I'd decision for many of the countries to take. We have like to mention is that we have video facilities in 100 seen recently in the United States that they are countries now. We are setting up distance learning thinking of increasing subsidies and it will not be too facilities in 100 countries; we are already at 40. For long, I am sure, before other countries respond. you to meet your colleagues visually is now a That is going in exactly the wrong direction. We are practical reality. We run 1000 videoconferences per therefore fighting it as much as we can but we need month in the Bank at this moment. So if you and any all your help to do that. There is no question that of your colleagues ever want to meet without the trade is, if not the central issue, an equally central physical movement, we are more than willing to issue as the issue of Overseas Development make it available to you. As for this last question on Assistance. So if that is a neo-liberal policy then that policies of the Bank and what we think and do not is the one that we are following. Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb George Charpak, Jean-François Rischard Jean-Claude faure, Isabel Tocino, Oscar de la Rojas, Colin Bradford Nesrin Nas Claude Frey Tony Worthington James D. Wolfensohn, Suresh Keswani Kimmo Kiljunen, Petri Salo, James D. Wolfensohn Thomas Dawson, James D. Wolfensohn James D. Wolfensohn, Jean-Christophe Bas Gerald Ssendaula Bert Koenders Monica Frassoni Charity Ngilu Alexandro Foxley Meeting of the PNoWB Steering Committee James D. Wolfensohn, Pascal Couchepin impede the growth of African countries amid NEPAD rescheduling and cancellation. As regards A Partnership for Africa's assistance, the other element of the binomial system, one notices a process whereby private Renewal? assistance is reduced and official development Keynote Speech by assistance leveled off continually, contrary to the Abdoulaye Wade, President, objectives of the 1970s. Africa's current situation is proof of the failure of the logic pertaining to credit Senegal and assistance. The result is that humanity has to find something else based on imagination and political will. Preamble Faced with the emergencies and priorities, a new The New Partnership for Africa's Development leadership has asserted itself in the African (NEPAD) is a long-term vision of Africa's continent by rejecting the dictates of fate and the development based on the choice and application perpetual recourse to the ideas and work of other of rules governing world economy, as mastered by parties. Africans. Therefore, the initiative of formulating and implementing development This vision of development, which programmes in the continent focuses on priority strategies, covers must belong to the Africans specific needs to be satisfied in the t h e m s e l v e s , m a y t h e y short term and should enable Africa subsequentlycallonsupportfrom to benefit, as soon as possible, from theinternationalcommunity. development conditions similar to those prevailing in developed countries, in other words, to fill the In short, this entails internationalizing fundamental gaps with these the search for solutions to the countries. continent's problems by exploring new avenues, with particular regard to funding and development 1- Justification for NEPAD procedures. Every era of evolution of the international It is in this context that Presidents Thabo MBEKI of community fundamentally conforms to its specific South Africa, Olusegun OBASANJO of Nigeria, logic: Abdel Aziz BOUTEFLIKA of Algeria proposed the Millennium African Plan (MAP) while President 1. Colonization conformed to the principle of Abdoulaye WADE of Senegal proposed the the Colonial Pact, which was based on the fact that, OMEGAPlan. in all fields, including that of economy, the colonies were to be complementary entities of the Aware of the significance and the urgent need to metropolis. This logic of the Colonial Pact had adopt and implement joint solutions to safeguard prompted the colonizers to establish ways of their points of view, the Heads of State, who initiated conveying raw materials to the coasts, ports and the OMEGA Plan and the MAP, held consultations airports. on ways and means of submitting to peers at the OAU Summit in July 2001, a single document 2. After the independence of African States reflecting their respective opinions. The basic areas and their accession to institutions of the of convergence between the main ideas contained international community, the logic of their in the two documents and the complementarities of development has so far been based on a binomial the approaches advocated enabled the Heads of system comprising credit and assistance. Credit State of the above-mentioned five countries to resulted in the debt situation, which continues to reach a consensus on a single document. This document was presented at the OAU Summit in honest and clear management of private Lusaka and was adopted on 11 July 2001, under the companies. provisional title of "New African Initiative", which subsequently became the "New Partnership for 3. Infrastructures: roads, railways, ports and Africa's Development (NEPAD)". airports means of transport which constitute cost factors that greatly influence the competitiveness of The New Partnership for Africa's Development is African products meant for sale abroad. Moreover, presented as a strategy for Africa's sustainable infrastructures boost and create economic development in the 21st Century, based on a activities. principle that is summed up in the document's Introduction as follows: 4. Education: at present, it appears that human resources constitute the most important "Across the continent, Africans declare that we will growth factor as it enters directly into the production no longer allow ourselves to be conditioned by process: creativity, inventiveness and productivity. circumstances. We will determine our own destiny Countries without natural resources, such as and call on the rest of the world to complement our Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, have efforts demonstrated that a country can be developed solely through massive investment in education and 2- Objectives of NEPAD training. NEPAD is based on the observation that some 5. Health: this is a crucial challenge to Africa crucial handicaps mainly account for Africa's because of the very high mortality rate in the backwardness. Consequently, the main objective of continent due to endemic diseases, malaria, NEPAD is to bridge the fundamental gaps between tuberculosis and AIDS. The battle for health is the developed countries andAfrica. therefore becoming, in turn, a top priority forAfrica. NEPAD is considered as a global plan at the 6. ICT: Information and Communication continental level but it has to be operated through Technologies are equally accessible to all peoples the regional framework as a primary operating in the sense that they require only intelligence, phase, rather than the African State in its currently which is fortunately distributed equitably for all men, narrow limits. In fact, very early, the development of and is therefore a means of factor for permanent our States was impeded by the narrowness of our contact and exchange of goods and services. Two economic environments and that is why the African countries Tunisia and Senegal, have implementation of NEPAD rests on the certainly taken the lead in this field but the NEPAD development of projects in the ten sectors, no project is geared towards enabling the continent to longer at the level of each country but at that of each make further progress in the new technologies of the five regions of Africa (West Africa, North sector and some projects are already being Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern executed to that effect. African peoples should be Africa and Madagascar). given access to the new technologies right from infancy and this practice must be extended to all activities, from agriculture to industry, transport, The ten sectors are: services and exchanges. 1. Good public governance: this entails 7. Agriculture: Africa is far behind in democracy, which finds expression in free and fair agriculture and this handicap finds expression in its elections, as well as democratic institutions, men's food dependency, which is hardly conceivable for a rights, women's rights and children's rights and vast continent with immense land and water transparency in the management of public heritage. resources; At a time when Western consumers refuse their countries' agricultural products affected 2. Proper management of private by pesticides, biological agriculture offers Africa an economy by a judiciary independent and honest in unprecedented opportunity to acquire foreign managing disputes involving foreign investors, Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb exchange needed to finance its development priorities as defined by NEPAD which will be backed through its products and exports. In this regard, by the G8: peace and democracy consolidation, Africa needs the technology and know-how of the poverty eradication, implementation of the developed countries and therefore counts on those objectives defined in the priority sectors of NEPAD. of the G8. The G8 countries manifested enormous interest in 8. The Environment: The battle for the implementation of NEPAD and designated a environment is many-sided because, apart from the representative who should be the permanent various forms of natural damage -- such as those contact person for the African countries. This group arising from climatic factors like drought and of representatives, placed under the leadership of desertification, or from the erosion that attacks our Canada, facilitated the drafting of the action plan coasts -- the effects of environmental degradation which was validated at the G8 Summit in June 2002, conducted by populations are well known. in Canada. However, the significant amount of resources required to win this battle is a concern for the Some significant events took place after the Genoa international community. G8 Summit: 9. Energy is known to be an important aspect 1. Numerous meetings have taken place of the development process, whereas most between the G8 representatives and the dignitaries countries in Africa do not produce oil and have ofAfrican countries hydraulic resources that are unevenly distributed in the continent. A fairly efficient resource for these 2. The G8 leaders received the African Heads countries is consequently solar energy, however of States for discussions on NEPAD: Prime Minister, the latter cannot yet replace oil. The African Tony BLAIR at Chequers, President of the countries have already envisaged building European Union at Brussels, while President pipelines linking gas producing countries to less Jacques CHIRAC of France received some twelve endowed nations, while fostering the expansion of African Heads of States on February 8, 2002. solar energy. 4-TheorgansofNEPAD 10. Access to developed country markets: the desire to develop and diversify agriculture cannot be effective if the developed countries would not The African presidents who initiated the New open their borders to us. Since Doha, discussions Partnership for Africa's Development created a have been initiated between African countries and steering committee. This committee is currently their partners; we are hoping that western made up of 15 Heads of State, including the 5 who markets will soon open up to us, under initiated it (South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, agreements similar to those with the US under Senegal), 10 Heads of State representing the AGOA and with the EU under the "All but different regions, with each region represented by weapons"initiative two and the African Union representative. Its role is to prepare the terms of references for programmes and projects' and to supervise the activities of the 3- The implementation of NEPAD Secretariat. It is structured as follows: During the Summit of the 7 most industrialized Chairman: Olesegun OBASANJO countries and Russia in Genoa, on July 20, 2001, Vice-Chairmen: Abdoulaye WADE (Senegal) & the African states had their first opportunity to Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA(Algeria) present the New African Initiative later named NEPAD to their main partners. They responded by Secretariat: Thabo MBEKI (SouthAfrica) formulating a declaration, which became known as the Genoa Plan forAfrica. Work groups have been set up from the priority sectors of NEPAD, regrouped in areas and This Declaration precisely maps out the lines of distributed among the initiator countries as follows: K A l g e r i a : h u m a n d e v e l o p m e n t with African leaders in Kananaskis, welcomed the (Education and Health) initiative taken by African States in adopting the L South Africa: good political governance, New Partnership for Africa's Development peace, security, democracy (NEPAD). M Egypt: access to markets, diversification of They consider NEPAD a bold and clear-sighted products vision of Africa's development and accept the N Nigeria: good private economy invitation from African leaders, extended first at governance and capital flow Genoa in July 2001 and reaffirmed in the NEPAD, to O build a new partnership between the African Senegal: infrastructures, environment, countries and these of G8. NICT, energy In support of the NEPAD objectives, they each 5- The Conference of Dakar on the financing of undertook to establish enhanced partnerships with NEPAD African countries whose performance reflects the NEPAD commitments. Willing to extricate themselves from the vicious circle of aid, the African countries have used To this end they are committed to mobilize and alternative thinking to define how to finance the energize global action, marshal resources and projects and programmes arising throughout the expertise, and provide impetus in support of the implementation of the objectives of NEPAD. NEPAD objective. By 2006, these new commitments will increase Based on estimates, the annual cost for achieving ODA by a total of US $12 billion per year. Each of the objectives of NEPAD is approximately $64 them will decide, in accordance with their respective million (given an objective of 7% of GDP growth rate priorities and procedures, how they will allocate the per year by 2015). additional money theyhave pledged. Assuming strong African policy commitments, and given As already stated, these resources should be recent assistance trends, they believe that in provided by African private investments and aggregate half or more of their new development external capital flows. assistance could be directed to African nations that govern justly, invest in their own people and promote economic freedom. Following the Summit of Monterrey in Mexico (Mars 2002), the conference of Dakar on the role of the To demonstrate their support for this new private sector in the financing of NEPAD was held on partnership, the G8 countries make the following April 15,16 &17, 2002. The International private sector engagements in support of the NEPAD: declared that not only would it actively participate in the financing of NEPAD but, also, that it would assist K Promoting Peace and Security the African countries in identifying strategies to L Strengthening Institutions and Governance mobilize foreign private investments. M Fostering Trade, Investment, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development The private sector also declared that, similarly to the N Implementing Debt Relief workgroups set up by the G8 leaders and the O Expanding Knowledge: Improving and international financial institutions, an international Promoting Education and Expanding coordinating structure would be created to follow-up Digital Opportunities on the conclusions of the Summit of Dakar and P Improving Health and Confronting jointly promote NEPAD activities with the Steering HIV/AIDS Committee. Q IncreasingAgricultural Productivity R Improving Water Resource Management 6- The G8 conference in Canada The G8 Heads of State and Government, meeting Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb downloaded from our website. There was a meeting "Doha: A Trade Round of parliamentarians at the Ministerial Conference in Doha last November. Most recently, parliamentarians for Development" held a session at the WTO last week during a public symposium that attracted more than 700 participants. Keynote Speech by In addition to these meetings, I also regularly address Mike Moore parliaments and parliamentary committees whenever I Director-General of the World am visiting capitals. Trade Organization Our effort to engage parliamentarians was greeted initially with suspicion by some WTO Members and I t is pleasure to be with you today. I welcome the Ambassadors. They feared that if this engagement opportunity to report to you on progress at the WTO. simply replicated internal debates at home, it would add little and fuel division. Three years on, I am pleased to report there is growing acceptance and Let me begin by commending this initiative to promote support for a constructive engagement. Let me now dialogue between parliamentarians and multilateral report to you on the work programme of the WTO. agencies. Such dialogue is important. It helps involve parliamentarians in our work and invites your energy, 2001 was an outstanding year for the World Trade ideas and input. It also assists the efforts of our Organization, perhaps the most significant in our brief institutions to ensure transparency, accountability and history. We concluded a successful Ministerial credibility in the activities we undertake on behalf of our Conference in Doha. We welcomed more than a memberships. quarter of the world's population into our membership from China, Chinese Taipei, Lithuania and Moldova The WTO is an intergovernmental (adding to the 6 other countries that have joined during organization and, in my view, probably my tenure). We reached agreement the most democratic of all the on the launch of a new round of trade institutions. We have 144 owners, all negotiations and in so doing, we equal under our rules. We operate on a placed development issues and the basis of consensus which means each interests of our poorer members at the of our owners also has veto power. Our heart of our work. agreements are negotiated in Geneva by appointed representatives of owner Success in Doha brought to an end governments. Before they come into the uncertainty created by the failure force nationally, governments refer the at Seattle. We are back in business. agreements to parliaments for And our business is trade consideration and ratification. liberalisation. Parliamentarians in turn are the accountable representatives of civil The momentum since Doha has been society. Every two years, a Conference equally impressive. Members have is held where Ministers review our established a Trade Negotiations activities and decide on our future work Committee to oversee the programme. negotiations. They have appointed the Director- General ex-officio to chair this body. The structure of The WTO Secretariat's sustained and considerable the negotiations has been determined and efforts over the past three years to involve chairpersons of all the individual negotiating bodies parliamentarians in our work reflects my personal decided upon. As well, Members have chosen Mexico experience and beliefs. I have been a parliamentarian as the venue for the next Ministerial Conference and most of my professional life and I believe strongly in its Minister Derbez and his team have already begun institutions. I also believe parliamentarians can play a preparations. vital role in bringing international organizations and people closer together, if given the right opportunity Many commentators suggested it would take many and support. There are also duties involved: months, perhaps years, for these decisions to be parliamentarians need to be familiar with our work taken. That was the experience after the Uruguay because the agreements we negotiate will eventually launch. However, through will and determination, come before your assemblies for ratification; Members have proceeded rapidly to the substantive parliamentarians also need to help dispel unfounded negotiations. For our part, the Secretariat is well- anxieties some of your constituents have about prepared to assist Members in their work. We have globalisation. consolidated our internal structures and refocused our priorities clearly to reflect the DohaAgenda. The first ever WTO-related 'parliamentary' meeting took place in Seattle in 1999. I have promoted I believe we can conclude the round within the three- frequent meetings since. At my initiative, the IPU year timeframe agreed by Ministers. But we must organised a parliamentary conference in Geneva in move the negotiations up a gear. And we must carry 2001 focused on Globalization and the WTO. Last into our work the lessons and insights from Doha. The year we also published a WTO policies issues new roadmap to Mexico and on to the successful handbook for parliamentarians. In just the month of conclusion of the round must include a number of key February, 3,000 copies of this handbook were elements. One key to success will be technical assistance and We know that the requirements of developing capacity building helping poorer members to integrate countries in the area of WTO or trade-related technical into the trading system and participate fully in the assistance extends well beyond what the WTO can negotiations. In Doha, developing countries put the and should provide. We need to be absolutely clear "conditionality" of capacity building on further progress about the limits of what the WTO can do and cannot do in trade liberalization. This conditionality is understood with regard to the Doha DevelopmentAgenda. It is not by major donors and supporters. for us to tell countries and companies to make T-shirts or shoes, build airports or seaports. It is true over 10 Members have already acted decisively by approving per cent of our budget goes to the International Trade an increased Secretariat budget for 2002 and pledging Centre which exists to help businesses navigate 30 million Swiss Francs to a new Global Trust Fund for through agreements and rules to get products to technical assistance. This 30 million, which is double markets, and they do an excellent job. That's their the figure that we asked for, is a solid step forward for core business. Other organizations can help with the Doha DevelopmentAgenda. physical infrastructure; that's their core business. We can and do cooperate with other agencies. But we must stick to our core business which is trade Our task is to make sure the resources are used liberalisation, the Doha Development Agenda and prudently and properly. We also have to ensure they bringing down barriers to trade so that people are tightly targeted on the technical assistance needs everywhere can benefit. of members - based around the Doha Development Agenda. Good progress has been made already. The Secretariat has a comprehensive programme of Another important element in the roadmap is getting activities for 2002 and we are proceeding with out the right message to mobilise public support. This implementation. We have also put in place new audit is where I believe parliamentarians have a critical role and evaluation systems to ensure members are to play. The potential benefits of the round are informed and that there is greater transparency and enormous and the economic and development accountability in our technical assistance work. We arguments compelling. But we have to communicate are hiring new staff as well to bolster our technical these benefits in ways that rally not just trade assistance capabilities. They will be in place in the negotiators but politicians, policy-makers, opinion next few weeks. leaders, the business community and all other players in civil society: We are looking to be innovative. Our current programme of activities includes at least 15 intensive 6 In economic terms, cutting barriers to trade in 3-week training courses and we have also doubled the agriculture, manufacturing and services by a third capacity of our WTO Training Institute. To enhance would boost the world economy by US$613 billion. these efforts, we are now moving quickly to establish in That's like adding an economy the size of Canada host countries 3-month diploma courses for trade to the world economy. officials. These will be based on the curricula of the 6 Abolishing all trade barriers could boost global WTO Training Institute and we will also assist with income by $US2.8 trillion and lift 320 million standards-setting, quality control and identifying people out of poverty by 2015. suitably qualified teachers. The courses will help 6 In development terms, the elimination of all tariff developing countries build up a core of advisors for and non-tariff barriers could result in gains for Ministers by the time of the next Ministerial. I hope we developing countries in the order of $182 billion in can soon launch these courses in at least 2 universities the services sector, $162 billion in manufactures in Africa. I hope too that the idea might eventually be and $32 billion in agriculture. carried into other teaching institutions in Africa and 6 OECD agricultural subsidies in dollar terms are other regions. It is work in progress and eventually will two-thirds of Africa's total GDP. Abolishing these include Masters courses for young officials. This latter subsidies would return three times all the ODA put idea will not happen during my tenure but it can together to developing countries. Kofi Annan happen in the time of my successor, Dr. Supachai. wants $10 billion to fight Aids; that is just 12 days Concerning the transition to Dr. Supachai, this will be subsidies. seamless, proper and professional. He is already 6 Health and education are fundamental to any receiving in-depth briefings and reports. We will not development programme. The cost of achieving loose any time or momentum because of the transition. the core UN Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education could be US$10 As part of our technical assistance mandate, we are billion per year. Yet developing countries would also deepening our partnerships with other agencies. gain more than 15 times this amount annually This is well underway and I have received from further trade liberalisation. encouragement and enthusiasm from all agency 6 All seven of the UN Millennium Development heads I have approached. Working with other goals in health, education, poverty, etc would agencies, we are developing a new database and require US $54 billion annually, - just one third the country-files so that our collective efforts are estimate of developing country gains from trade coordinated and so we can identify gaps in our delivery liberalisation. of trade-related technical assistance. This will help us to be more transparent and accountable to Ministers. Of course, developing countries need not wait until the We also need this early warning system to find and fix conclusion of the Doha Development Round. gaps. Discovering problems next year will be too late. South/south trade in the 1990s grew faster than world trade and now accounts for more than one third of Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb developing country exports, or about $650 billion. The at all points in the negotiations. Finally, with all these World Bank reports that 70 percent of the burden on elements of the roadmap working, it is then up to the developing countries' manufactured exports result trade negotiators of WTO members to work with from trade barriers of other developing countries. The commitment and flexibility to realise the enormous quicker those walls come down, the quicker the benefits offered by the multilateral trading system. returns to developing countries. Let me conclude by reiterating why we need a Other important development and good governance development round and why I believe the Doha round issues such as transparency in government will truly be such a round. Firstly, notwithstanding the procurement, competition policy and trade facilitation, advances made over the past 50 years, 1.2 billion need direction from the highest political levels. Trade people are still living on less than $1 a day. Another facilitation, according to APEC and UNCTAD studies, 1.6 billion people are living on less than $2 a day. It is a will generate huge returns. An Inter-American tragedy that while our planet is blessed with sufficient Development Bank study showed how in South resources to feed its 6 billion people, many are going America a truck delivering product to markets across hungry and living in misery. The first responsibility lies two borders took 200 hours, 100 of which were bound with governments in these poor countries. up in bureaucratic delays at the border. The need for Development requires peace, good governance and this public sector infrastructure improvement is sound economic policies. But trade liberalisation is desperately urgent to protect and promote domestic also a tool that we can use. Poor countries need to property rights and justice systems. Domestic red- grow their way out of poverty and trade can serve as a tape and bad governance, wherever it occurs, in key engine for that growth. developed and developing countries, is costly and corrosive. The Doha Round will be a development round because the mandate of the negotiations addresses Our task, which is a task parliamentarians can help us squarely the development priorities of poorer countries with, is to present these arguments to the public and including in such key areas as agriculture, services seek the additional horsepower that their support can and market access. It will be a development round give to our trade negotiations. And if these do not because agreement to launch the round was convince, we have an array of additional arguments: conditioned upon the delivery of adequate technical assistance and capacity building to allow poorer 6 For those concerned about the poor in developed countries to participate meaningfully in the countries, in US, EU and Japan for example, negotiations and advance their interests. I am proud studies show that import tariffs are lowest on of the fact that donor countries have already delivered industrial supplies and luxury goods marketed to on their promises in this regard through generous wealthy and middle class families and highest on contributions announced at the recent pledging cheaper goods that poor families buy. conference. And, finally, it will be a development round 6 For those concerned about the world's poorest because two-thirds of the WTO's membership are countries, studies show the extent to which trade developing countries and they will not accept any barriers and tariffs of rich countries work against outcome which does not deliver substantially on their them. Let me share one example from a book I expectations and ambitions. read recently. Mongolians and Norwegians both paid the US about $23 million in tariffs last year. Once again, may I commend the initiative of this But Mongolia exported $143 million and Norway meeting and I hope you continue to meet on a regular $5.2 billion, or 40 times as much. In effect, basis. I believe it is important that we find new ways of Mongolians paid 16 cents to sell the US a dollar's ensuring intergovernmental organizations such as the worth of sweaters and suits, while the Norwegians WTO, UNCTAD, World Bank, IMF and the UN and its paid half a cent for every dollar's worth of gourmet multitude of agencies and subsidiary bodies are held smoke salmon, jet engine parts and North Sea accountable and regularly scrutinized by our owners. crude. This is healthy. It makes us stronger and gives us 6 For those concerned about the environment, greater credibility and legitimacy. It is up to studies suggest there are significant ecological parliaments and congresses to do more in this regard. benefits from removing fish subsidies. At the same time, not many countries want to These then are some of the important elements in the introduce new layers of bureaucracy onto the roadmap to Mexico and towards the conclusion of the international architecture. This means ideas such as round; increased technical assistance with greater the establishment of a formal parliamentary assembly accountability and transparency; coherence with other to oversee the work of the WTO tend to meet with agencies; outreach to civil society, effective mixed responses. Perhaps ideas such as this could communication of the benefits of liberalisation and evolve over time but we should at least provide a enlisting the support of key players such as the situation where parliamentarians can assemble business community and parliamentarians. Beyond frequently to provide appropriate oversight and these elements, we need to ensure our WTO familiarize themselves with the duties, priorities and processes adequately support the negotiations and activities of our respective institutions. I commend this are transparent and credible. From my Doha thought to you and hope it is followed through at the experience, I can tell you it is vital too that we keep national. regional and international levels. Ministers fully involved and engaged in our work. Their guidance, wisdom and flexibility will be needed List of Participants Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb List of Participants List of Parliamentarians Ndam Njoya, Amadou Florinis, Anthinos Member of Parliament, Cameroon Member of Parliament, Greece Bufi, Ylli, Member of Parliament, Albania Williams, John Kosa-Kova, Magda Member of Parliament, Canada Member of Parliament, Hungary Gjana, Emin Member of Parliament, Albania Foxley, Alejandro Gowda Karnataka, Javare Member of Parliament, Chile Member of Parliament, India Mala,j Arben Member of Parliament, Albania Sandbæk Ulla, Margrethe Keswani, Suresh A. Member of Parliament, Denmark Member of Parliament, India Jäger, Inge Member of Parliament, Austria Yohannes Ato, Dawit Kovind Pradesh, Ram Nath Member of Parliament, Ethiopia Member of Parliament, India Khan, A. Moyeen Member of Parliament, Ala-Nissila, Olavi Kumar Sarma, Arun Bangladesh Member of Parliament, Finland Member of Parliament, India Kulik, Vitaly Kiljunen, Kimmo Maheshwari Pradesh, P.K. Member of Parliament, Belarus Member of Parliament, Finland Member of Parliament, India Bouteca, Roger B Salo, Petri Manhar, B.R. Member of Parliament, Belgium Member of Parliament, Finland Member of Parliament, India Grafe, Jean-Pierre Uotila Kari Murthy Karnataka, Krishna Member of Parliament, Belgium Memb,er of Parliament, Finland Member of Parliament, India Nouhoum, Assouman Deneux, Marcel Murthy Karnataka, Krisha Member of Parliament, Benin Member of Parliament, France Member of Parliament, India Drenska, Teodora Andjembé, Leonard Prasad, Mahendra Member of Parliament, Bulgaria Member of Parliament, Gabon Member of Parliament, India Iskrov, Ivan Onkeya, Felix Rajkumar Pradesh, Alladi Member of Parliament, Bulgaria Member of Parliament, Gabon Member of Parliament, India Paparizov, Atanas Saakashvili, Mikheil Singh, V.P Member of Parliament, Bulgaria Member of Parliament, Georgia Member of Parliament, India Bazeruke, Raphael Tröscher Frau, Adelheid D. Singh, Laxman Member of Parliament, Burundi Member of Parliament, Germany Member of Parliament, India Ndikumana, Victoire von Schmude Herrn, Michael Danieli, Franco Member of Parliament, Burundi Member of Parliament, Germany Member of Parliament, Italy Ngenzebuhoro, Frederic Baah-Wiredu, Kwadwo Frassoni, Monica Member of Parliament, Burundi Member of Parliament, Ghana Member of European Parliament Socheat, Ok Dzirasah, Kenneth Kombo, Musikari Member of Parliament, Cambodia Member of Parliament, Ghana Member of Parliament, Kenya Sovann, Yim Mensah, J. H. Ngilu Charity, Kaluki Member of Parliament, Cambodia Member of Parliament, Ghana Member of Parliament, Kenya Butkevicius, Algirdas Arnau Navarro, Francisco Zapfl, Rosmarie Member of Parliament, Lithuania Member of Parliament, Spain Member of Parliament, Switzerland Glaveckas, Kestutis Caneda, Damian Member of Parliament, Lithuania Member of Parliament, Spain Zaray Mohamed, Salah Member of Parliament, Tunisia Maldeikis, Eugenijus Tocino Biscarolsaga, Isabel Member of Parliament, Lithuania Member of Parliament, Spain Kumcuoglu, Ertugrul Member of Parliament, Turkey Diallo Ali, Nouhoum Brendt, Agneta Member of Parliament, Mali Member of Parliament, Sweden Nas, Nesrin Member of Parliament, Turkey Braghis, Dumitru Baumann, Ruedi Member of Parliament, Moldova Member of Parliament, Sazak, Servet Switzerland Member of Parliament, Turkey Neguta, Andrei Member of Parliament, Moldova Cornu, Jean-Claude Kiraso, Beatrice Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament, Uganda Abdelaziz El Alaoui El Hafidi, Switzerland Moulay Mao, Norbert Member of Parliament, Morocco Frey, Claude Member of Parliament, Uganda Member of Parliament, Bastola, M. Switzerland Ruzindana ,Augustine Member of Parliament, Nepal Member of Parliament, Uganda Gadient, Brigitte Khanal Dilli, Ray Member of Parliament, Battle, John Member of Parliament, Nepal Switzerland Member of Parliament, United Kingdom Koenders, Albert Guenther,,Paul Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament, Bayley, Hugh Netherlands Switzerland Member of Parliament, United Kingdom Van Den Bos, Bob Gysin, Remo Member of European Parliament Member of Parliament, Colman, Tony Switzerland Member of Parliament, Fasiro, Habeeb United Kingdom Member of Parliament, Nigeria Merz, Hans-Rudolph Member of Parliament, Worthington, Tony Sanusi Daggash, Mohammed Switzerland Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom Nigeria Riklin, Kathy Member of Parliament, Colic, Ljiljana Ayala, Raul Switzerland Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament, Paraguay Yugoslavia Schluer, Ulrich Sarubbi, Paul Member of Parliament, Kadic, Miladin Member of Parliament, Paraguay Switzerland Member of Parliament, Yugoslavia Sultanov, Kuanysh Stahelin, Philipp Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament, Korac, Zarco Republic of Kazakhstan Switzerland Member of Parliament, Yugoslavia Ualikhan, Kaisarov Stamm, Luzi Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament, Radoslav, Bulut Republic of Kazakhstan Switzerland Member of Parliament, Yugoslavia Maior, Liviu Wiederkehr, Roland Member of Parliament, Member ofParliament, Vucinic, Sasa Romania Switzerland Member of Parliament, Yugoslavi Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb List of speakers Moore, Mike Davis-Gillet,Anne, Director General, WTO World Bank Doretti, Diletta, World Bank Dreher, Madeleine, SECO Bas, Jean-Christophe Ndoye, Mamadou Duque-Ortiz, Deyanira Pan European Dialogue Manager, Executive Secretary, Association CEMI-EHESS World Bank for the Development of Education Dusika, Lisjak in Africa Parliament of Yugoslavia Bradford, Colin Fall, Ibrahima Professor, American University Page, John African Parliamentary Union Director, Poverty Reduction Florinis, Maria Charpak, Georges Group, World Bank Fust Walter Nobel Prize Laureate SDC Revel, Claude Genevaz, Barbara Dawson ,Thomas Director General, Confederation World Bank Director External Affairs IMF of International Contractors Gerster, Richard Consultant de Rojas, Oscar Girardier, Pierre Rischard, Jean-François Executive Coordinator, Financing World Bank Vice President for Europe, World Goldschlager, Seth for Development, United Nations Bank Publicis Guerney, Bruce Dunlop ,Nicholas Sherry, Jim World Bank Director, E-Parliament Initiative Senior Advisor to the Executive Gurtner, Bruno Director, UNAIDS Swiss Coalition of Development Faure, Jean-Claude Organizations Chairman of the Development Kwame Sunduram, Jomo Hofer, Walter Professor, University of Malaya, Swiss Coalition of Development Assistance Committee, OECD Malaysia Organizations Hudson, Alan Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge Ssendaula, Gerald International Development Senior Research Fellow, Christian Committee Minister of Finance, Planning Michelsen Institute Leisinger, Klaus and Economic Development, Lindstrom, Guy; Uganda Froesch, Therese International Dept, Parliament City Councelor, City of Bern of Finland Wolfensohn, James D. Mejia, Cristina President, World Bank World Bank Hansen, Keith Ming Hans, Peter Manager, Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Wade ,Abdoulaye Advisory Commission to the Project, World Bank President, Senegal Federal Commission on the Bretton Woods Koch-Weser, Maritta Wilks, Alex Nakamura, Shuzo Director General, Earth 3000 Coordinator, Bretton Woods World Bank Project Rohner, Martin Karlsson, Mats SECO (Swiss Secretariat of Vice President, External Affairs, Economic Affairs) World Bank Sharkey, Katrina List of observers World Bank And organizers Kessinger, Tom Stückelberger, Christopher General Manager, Aga Khan Caritas Bhatia, Sabina Foundation Sukayejworakit, Malinee International Monetary Fund AFPPD Bathily-Sylla, Naye Stapenhurst, Rick McHugh, Matt World Bank World Bank Counselor to the President, Belser, Patrick Ter Maat, Hendrikus World Bank SECO (Swiss Secretariat of World Bank Economic Affairs) Van Praag, Nicholas Miller, Robert Cling,Jean-Pierre World Bank Execu,tive Director, DIAL Veglio, Pietro Parliamentary Centre Datta ,Neil World Bank Inter-European Parliamentary Von Monbart, Claudia Forum on Population World Bank The Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Network on The World Bank OnConference the occasion of the Second Parliamentary 3. Networking: To encourage concerted action, early of the World Bank held at the House of debate and exchange of information among Commons in London on January 28-29, a steering Parliamentarians on major issues of international committee was elected. This group of nine development, finance and poverty eradication. parliamentarians represents the network and acts independently of the World Bank. 4. Partnerships: To take initiatives to further cooperation and encourage partnerships between Responsibilities of the Steering Committee: parliamentarians and policy makers, the academic The Steering Committee : community, the business sector and non-governmental · ensures the continued and sustainable organizations on development issues. development of the initiative; · 5. Progress Review: To promote the development of takes the necessary actions to define the parliamentary mechanisms and practices for the name, the nature, the rules of procedure and effective democratic control of development assistance organizational settings of the Network and submits in all its phases. a proposal to this effect to the next Conference; · initiates, guides and oversees the activities of Activities: the Network; Annual Conference: At least once a year the Network · represents he Network; organizes a conference. This is organized in · implements the decisions taken by the First partnership with the parliament of the host country and and Second Parliamentary Conferences of the the World Bank. World Bank with Parliamentarians; · prepares the next annual conference of the Field Trips: The Network facilitates field trips for Network; parliamentarians from donor countries to visit projects in developing countries. At the same time the Network · mobilizes the necessary financial resources for organizes visits from Parliamentarians from developing the Network and takes responsibility for their countries to parliaments in countries with well- administration. established democratic traditions. List of elected Members: Website: The Network has its own website in order to facilitate coalition-building and the exchange of Ms. Hilde JOHNSON (Norway) information on international development issues among Mr. Shri SureshA. KESWANI (India) Parliamentarians and multilateral institutions such as Mr. Kimmo KILJUNEN (Finland) the World Bank. Mr. Bert KOENDERS (Netherlands) Ms. Charity K. NGILU (Kenya) Consultations: The PNoWB engages in consultations Mr.Adamou Ndam NJOYA(Cameroon) with the World Bank and other international financial Ms. Isabel TOCINO BISCAROLASAGA(Spain) institutions on their respective projects, programs, and research activities. Ms.Adelheid TRÖSCHER (Germany) Mr. Bowen WELLS (United Kingdom) Training: The Network will actively look for training Since then Ms. Hilde Johnson has been appointed opportunities for Parliamentarians, in partnership with Minister of Development Cooperation of Norway the World Bank Institute, amongst others on the Bank's and Mr. Bowen Wells has retired from Parliament. technical procedures. They have been replaced by Mr. Tony WORTHINGTON (United Kingdom) and Ms. Monica FRASSONI (European Parliament) during Newsletter: A newsletter will be disseminated regularly the conference held in Bern. to inform members about the activities of the Network and to raise its profile vis-à-vis third parties. The newsletter will feature, inter alia, interviews with Mission Statement Parliamentarians active in international development. The purpose of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) is to increase parliamentary involvement and effectiveness in the field of international Research: The Network encourage small-scale, development. parliament-specific research projects sbased on the needs defined by the members of the Network. This research could include the monitoring of parliamentary The core mission of the PNoWB is fivefold: agendas for international development issues. 1. Accountability: To facilitate and encourage direct For more information about the PNoWB activities , visit policy dialogue between Parliamentarians and the the multilateral development institutions in order to increase the transparency of World Bank policies and practices and increase collective accountability. Partnerships: The Network will actively look for opportunities to build partnerships with other international parliamentary networks to encourage 2. Advocacy: To provide the members of the Network cross-fertilization. In addition, the Network will build with a platform for coordinated parliamentary advocacy bridges with other constituencies involved in on international development issues. international development (academia, NGOs,...). Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb The Pan-European Dialogue of The World Bank The Pan-European Dialogue of the World Bank The Pan-European Dialogue of the European Vice-Presidency of the World Bank aims to bring together European leaders around themes of key importance on international development. Through high-profile flagship events and follow-up consultations with various constituencies in Europe - academics and thinkers, policy makers, business leaders, NGOs, civil society and trade union representatives - the World Bank wishes to: 8 exchangeviewsondevelopmentchallengesandglobalissuesforthedecadetocome; 8 engage in an in-depth dialogue about the role of European countries and the European Union in international development, and contribute to European and international perspectives on development; 8 explore possibilities for future consultation and information exchange on development cooperation and the work of the World Bank. The Pan European Dialogue Team Jean -François Rischard, Vice President,for Europe Jean-Christophe Bas, Pan-European Dialogue Manager, Tel: 331 40693035, fax: 331 47237436, email: jbas@worldbank.org Hendrikus Ter Maat, Counselor, Tel: 331 40693013, fax: 331 47237436, email:htermaat@worldbank.org Nayé A. Bathily-Sylla, Language Program Assistant, Tel: 331 40693017, fax: 331 47237436, email: nbathily@worldbank.org, Diletta Doretti,Tel: 33140693032, fax: 331 47237436 Email: ddoretti@worldbank.org Ingrid Maria Johansen, Tel: 331 40693027, fax: 331 47237436, email: ijohansen@worldbank.org Cynthia Mar, Tel: 33 1 40 693372, email: cmar@worldbank.org Valerie Chevalier, Head, Public Information Center, Tel: 331 40693048, email vchevalier@worldbank.org Pierre Girardier, Communication Associate, Tel: 33140693036 email:pgirardier@worldbank.org Cristina Mejia, Briefing and Research, Tel: + 331 40 69 32 82 Ivar-André Slengesol, Media Relations, Tel: + 331 40 69 30 11 Our thanks to Cristina Mejia for writing the summary report and Jean-Michel Gillet for designing the report. A special thank you to the whole EURVP team for its contribution to the organization of the event. Question and Answer System for Parliamentarians on the World Bank Did you ever have a question about the World Bank but didn't know who to go to for the answer? Now you can ask your question directly on the PNoWB website at http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb using our online Q&A system. If you have problems accessing the internet, you can fax your inquiry along with your contact information to +33 1.40.69.30.69. Answers will be provided by the World Bank Public Information Center in Europe as soon as possible. PNoWB Membership Form Please let us know if you are interested in joining the PNoWB send us a fax at : + 331 47 23 74 36 or an email at pnowb@worldbank.org with the following information: Your CONTACT DETAILS: Name:______________________________________________________________________________________ Title:_______________________________________________________________________________________ Contact person (assistant/secretary):____________________________________________________________ Address:___________________________________________Country:_________________________________ Phone:_____________________________________ Fax: ___________________________________________ Websites of Some Partner Organizations African Parliamentary Network Against Parliamentary Assembly of Corruption The Council of Europe Http://www.apnac.org/ Http://assembly.coe.int/ African Parliamentary Union Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Http://www.uafparl.org/ Http://www.ipu.org/ American Institute of Parliamentarians Pan Africanist Congress Http://www.parliamentaryprocedure.org/ Http://www.paca.org.za/ Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) and Development Http://www.pgaction.org/ Http://www.afppd.org/ Nepad Forum of Parliamentarians Assemblee Parliamentaire de la Francophonie Http://www.parlanepad.org/fr/index.htm Http://www.francophonie.org/oif.cfm Parliamentary Centre Commonwealth Parliamentary Association http://parlcent.parl.gc.ca/ Http://www.comparlas.co.uk/ Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb Visit the Website of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank: Http://www.worldbank.org/pnowb World Bank European Offices Paris Office Brussels Office Frankfurt Office Geneva Office 66 avenue d'Iéna, 10 rue Montoyer, Bockenheimer 4, rue des Morillons, 75116 Paris, 1000 Brussels, Landstrasse 109, 1211 Geneva 22, France Belgium 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Switzerland Tel: (33-1) 40 69 30 00 Tel: (32-2) 552-0052 Germany Tel: (41-22) 799 7390 Fax: (33-1) 40 69 30 64 Fax: (32-2) 552-0025 Tel: (49-69) 74348230 Fax: (41-22) 799 7694 Fax: (49-69) 74348239 London Office Rome Office New Zealand House, via Labicana 110 15th Floor Haymarket, 00184 Rome, London SW1Y 4TE, Italy England Tel: (39-06) 77710/1 Tel: (44-020) 7930-8511 Fax: (39-06) 7096046 Fax: (44-020) 7930-8515 Headquarters Web sites: 1818 H Street, N.WWashington, D.C. 20433, USA, The World Bank: www.worldbank.org, Tel: (1-202) 477-1234 Fax: (1-202) 477-6391 The International Finance Corporation: www.ifc.org, The Multilateral GuaranteeAgency: www.miga.org