May 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Urgent Recommendation to World Bank and IMF Executive Directors on the Leadership Selection Reform at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is backed by 170 signatures!
Contact: Jo Marie Griesgraber ♦ (202) 277-9390 ♦ jgriesgraber@new-rules.org
Colin Bradford ♦ (301) 580-9132 ♦ CBRADFORD@brookings.edu
Nancy Birdsall ♦ 202-416-0700 ♦ nbirdsall@cgdev.org
Edwin (Ted) Truman ♦ (202) 328-9000 ♦ TTruman@IIE.com
The leadership crisis at the World Bank is undermining not only the World Bank but potentially the International Monetary Fund. The world’s nations -- not least the United States – have a vital interest in promoting the goals and sound management of these international institutions.
Paul Wolfowitz’s problems at the World Bank stem in part from a widespread perception that he disproportionately represents U.S. interests rather than objectives that command a global consensus. The root cause of that perception is an informal convention, established in the 1940s, that the U.S. government designates the president of the World Bank while European governments designate the IMF’s managing director.
In today’s world, that outdated convention should be abandoned and replaced with selection procedures that reflect two key principles: transparency of process, and competence of prospective leadership without regard to national origin. With such selection procedures, the heads of the institutions would be seen as representing the international community as a whole, not a single country or region. If the outdated convention is not abandoned, the leadership crisis at the World Bank is unlikely to be fully resolved even if Paul Wolfowitz decides to resign.
We therefore call for timely adoption of reform of the selection procedures at both institutions. We recommend as an initial constructive step that European governments and the U.S. administration publicly state that the 1940s convention should be jettisoned and commit themselves now to reform selection procedures whenever new leadership choices have to be made for either the World Bank or the IMF.
Individuals have signed this letter in their personal capacities.
Institutions appear for professional identification only.
171 Signatures collected as of 1:30 pm May 15, 2007. Click here to view an update list of signatures
1. Nicholas Adamtey, Policy Analyst, Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Accra, Ghana
2. Anselme Adegbidi, Professeur d'Economie, Directeur Laboratoire des Etudes sur les Performances Agricoles et la Pauvrete (LEPAP) Faculte des Sciences Agronomiques (FSA) Universite d'Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
3. Yoginder K. Alagh, Former Minister of Power, Planning and Science and Technology of India, Chairman, Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India
4. Martin Albrow, Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom
5. Lorna Arblaster, Leeds, United Kingdom
6. Robert Armstrong, Development Economist, Prior positions held at Northwestern University, Williams College, Ford Foundation, and World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
7. Anders Aslund, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, USA
8. Patrick Avato, Sustainable Development Network, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
9. Jamie Baker, Coordinator, New Rules for Global Finance Coalition, Arlington, VA, USA
10. Manish Bapna, Executive Director, Bank Information Center, Washington, DC, USA
11. Bob Baulch, Ph.D, Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
12. Emel Bayrak, Washington Correspondent, Aksam Daily Newspaper, Washington, DC, USA
13. G.S. Bhalla, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
14. Nancy Birdsall, President, Center for Global Development, Washington, DC, USA
15. Amer Bisat, Rubicon Capital Advisors, New York, NY, USA
16. Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
17. Jack Boorman, Formerly Counsellor and Director of Policy Research Department, International Monetary Fund, FL, USA
18. Colin Bradford, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
19. L. David Brown, Associate Director for International Programs, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
20. Coralie Bryant, Washington, DC, USA
21. Ralph Bryant, Senior Fellow: Economic Studies, The Edward M. Bernstein Scholar, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
22. Ariel Buira, Former Director, G-24 Secretariat, Mexico
23. Beth Burrows, President/Director, Edmonds Institute, Washington, DC, USA
24. Sally Burrows, Independent Consultant, Italy
25. Daniele Calabrese, Communication Officer, Development Communication Division, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
26. Frankin Canelos, CLAI, Ecuador
27. Julián Casal, Washington, DC, USA
28. Nessa Ní Chasaide, Coordinator, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
29. Josaine Chin Aleong, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, Brighton, United Kingdom
30. Manuel Chiriboga, Investigador, Rimisp - Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, Columnist El Universo, Quito, Equador
31. John Christensen, Director, Tax Justice Network International Secretariat, United Kingdom
32. John Clark, Lead Social Development Specialist, East Asia/Pacific Region, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
33. Alex Cobham, Supernumerary Fellow in Economics, St Anne's College, Oxford Director, Economy Section, Oxford Council on Good Governance, United Kingdom
34. Hillary Cook, ID21, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, United Kingdom
35. Caesar B. Cororaton, Research Fellow, IFPRI - MTID, Washington, DC, USA
36. Issiaka Coulibaly, World Vision
37. Roy Culpeper, Ph.D, President and CEO, North-South Institute, Canada
38. Jane D'Arista, Financial Markets Center, Howardsville, VA
39. David DeFerranti, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
40. I.M. (Mac) Destler, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
41. Kenneth J. Dillon, Spectrum Bioscience, Inc, Washington, DC, USA
42. Ghada Elhefnawy
43. David Ellerman, Visiting Scholar, University of California at Riverside, CA, USA
44. Kimberly Elliott, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development and Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, USA
45. Rev Séamus P. Finn OMI, Director, Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation, Missionary Oblates, Washington, DC, USA
46. Tony Fleming, UNSG.org / GlobalMemo.org, College Park, MD, USA
47. Elaine Fuller Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Economics, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL, USA
48. Vicente García-Delgado, CIVICUS UN Representative, New York, NY, USA
49. Jennifer Geib
50. Anna Gelpern, Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers School of Law, Rutgers University Division of Global Affairs, Newark, NJ, USA
51. Angelo Gennari Ph.D, Vice President, CNEL (Italian national council of economy and labor), Italy
52. Morris Goldstein, Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Deputy Director of Research, IMF, Washington, DC, USA
53. Carol Graham, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
54. Edward M. (Monty) Graham, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, USA
55. Jo Marie Griesgraber, Ph.D, Executive Director, New Rules for Global Finance Coalition, Arlington, VA, USA
56. Stephany Griffith-Jones, Professorial Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, United Kingdom
57. Bernhard G. Gunter, Ph.D, President, Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC), Falls Church, VA, USA
58. Bruno Gurtner, Senior Economist, Alliance Sud, Bern, Switzerland
59. Prof. Lawrence Haddad, Director, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, United Kingdom
60. Budd L. Hall, PhD, Director, Office of Community-Based Research, University of Victoria, Victoria B.C, Canada
61. Maria Hamlin Zuniga, Managua Nicaragua
62. Michael Hammer, Executive Director, One World Trust, United Kingdom
63. Irfan Haque, South Voice, Washington, DC, USA
64. Gerry Helleiner, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
65. Hazel Henderson, St. Augustine, FL, USA
66. José A. Henríquez, El Salvador
67. James S. Henry, Esq, Managing Partner, Cooperating Attorney, NYCLU/ACLU, Sag Harbor Group, Inc, SagHarbor, NY, USA
68. Barry Herman, Visiting Senior Fellow, Graduate Program in International Affairs, New School, New York, NY, USA
69. Joanne Heslop, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, Brighton, United Kingdom
70. Nadia Johnson, Economic & Social Justice Program Coordinator, Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO), New York, NY, USA
71. Professor Sir Richard Jolly, Honorary Professor, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex Univeristy, Former Deputy Executive Director UNICEF 1982-95 and Special Adviser to the Administrator UNDP and Principal Coordinator of the Human Development Report, 1996-2000. United Kingdom
72. Daniel Kaeser, former Swiss Executive Director, International Monetary Fund, Switzerland
73. Miles Kahler, Rohr Professor of Pacific International Relations, Professor of Political Science, Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, CA, USA
74. Gaim Kebreab, Senior Advisor, Department for Development Policy, Norwegian Church Aid, Norway
75. Adil Khan, United Nations, New York, NY, USA
76. Homi Kharas, Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington DC, USA
77. Tony Killick, Development Consultant and Senior Research Associate, Overseas Development Institute, United Kingdom
78. Robin A. King, Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
79. Ole Klammer, Denmark
80. Matti Kohonen, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
81. Lucy Komisar, Co-Chair, Tax Justice Network-USA, New York, NY, USA
82. Barbara Kotschwar, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, USA
83. Koueda Koung Jean, Global Village Cameroon, Yaounde, Cameroon
84. Jan Kregel, Levy Economics Institute, NY, USA
85. Shailendra Kumar, MA Governance, Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, University, Brighton, United Kingdom
86. Mark S. Langevin, Ph.D, National Organizer, Brazil Strategy Network, Washington, DC, USA & Brazil
87. Michele Larocque, Waterbury, CT, USA
88. Carina Larsfälten, Senior Project Manager, International Monetary Convention Project Global Institute for Partnership and Governance, World Economic Forum, Switzerland
89. Max Lawson, Oxfam International, United Kingdom
90. Helen Leake, Policy Advisor, Forest Peoples Programme, United Kingdom
91. Dennis Leech, Professor of Economics, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
92. David K. Leonard, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
93. Mark Lester, Central America Regional Co-Director, Center for Global Education, Augsburg College, Nicaragua
94. Johannes Linn, Executive Director, The Wolfensohn Center, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
95. Kattie Lussier, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, Canada and United Kingdom
96. Hayley MacGregor, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University, United Kingdom
97. Oumar Makalou P.h.D, President and Director, Center of Study and Research for Democracy, Economic and Social Development, Bamako, Mali
98. ROZ Mandelcorn, Los Angeles, CA, USA
99. Catherine L. Mann P.h.D, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Professor, International Economics and Finance, Brandeis University, Washington, DC, USA
100. Monica Mariana Martinez Cadena, MA student in Governance and Development, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
101. Robert J. McIntyre Ph.D, Local Development in Transition, Harpswell, ME, USA
102. Warwick McKibbin, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
103. Marilyn D. McNabb, Lincoln, NE, USA
104. Audrey Miller, Regional Representative, Jubilee Debt Campaign, United Kingdom
105. Marcus Miller, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
106. Nuria Molina, Policy and Advocacy Officer, European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD), Belgium
107. Mick Moore, Professorial Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex Univeristy, and Director, The Centre for the Future State, Brighton, United Kingdom
108. Caroline Moser, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
109. Theodore Mpatswenumugabo, Senior Economist, United Nations Development Programme, Niamey, Niger
110. Mustafa K. Mujeri, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, Bangladesh
111. Moise Mungala Tshimbu, Design, Monitoring & Evaluation /LEAP National Coordinator, Quality Ministry Department, World Vision, Democratic Republic of the Congo
112. Richard Murphy, Director, Tax Research LLP, Norfolk, United Kingdom
113. Barbara Negri Opper, former Senior Advisor, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
114. Andy Norton, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
115. Rachel Nugent, Ph.D., Senior Health Program Associate, Center for Global Development, Washington, DC, USA
116. Maureen O' Connell, Ireland
117. Chukwuma Obidegwu, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
118. Mary O'Herron, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office, U.S. Province, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Washington, DC, USA
119. Oduor Ong'wen, SEATINI, Kenya
120. Mead Over, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development,
121. William Pace, Executive Director, World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy, New York, NY, USA
122. Mario Pastore, Visiting Fellow, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
123. Heikki Patomäki, Professor of International Relations, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland
124. Jacques J. Polak, past positions: Director Research Department; Economic Counsellor; Executive Director, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC, USA
125. Jeff Powell, Bretton Woods Project UK, United Kingdom
126. Rev. Rocco Puopolo, Executive Director, Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN), Washington, DC, USA
127. Ana Quiros Viquez, CISAS, MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
128. Fraser Reilly-King, Halifax Initiative Coalition, Canada
129. Andrew Rice, United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNANCA), Washington, DC, USA
130. Shirley Rivens Smith, President, US Africa Sister Cities Foundation, Inc, Washington, DC, USA
131. Tom Roberts PhD, LINKS/LEAD Coordinator, World Vision, Sierra Leone
132. Trisha Rogers, Director, Jubilee Debt Campaign, United Kingdom
133. Robert Ross
134. Andy Rutherford, Head of International Partnerships, One World Action, United Kingdom
135. David Sandalow, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
136. Audrey Sasson, Master of International Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
137. Luc Savard, Directeur du GREDI, Professeur-adjoint, Département d'économique, Faculté d'administration, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
138. Marjan Saz, Amsterdam, Holland, Netherlands
139. John W. Sewell, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC, USA
140. Cora Shaw, Washington, DC, USA
141. Cathy Shutt, United Kingdom
142. Jorge Soeiro, Economist, consultant, Maputo, Mozambique
143. Richard Sroczynski, Marianists International, New York, NY, USA
144. Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III, Coordinator, Action for Economic Reforms, Quezon City, Philippines
145. Agnes Sia Tamba, Network Movement for Justice and Development, Sierra Leone
146. Mohammad Osman Tariq, MA, Governance & Development, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom & Afghanistan
147. Amb James Teah Tarpeh, Ph.D, Germantown, MD, USA
148. George Thackray, United Kingdom
149. Andrew S. Thompson, Waterloo, Canada, Waterloo, Canada
150. James C. Titkemeyer, Economist, Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC, USA
151. Saúl Escobar Toledo, Mexico
152. Edwin (Ted) M. Truman, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, USA
153. Happy James Tumwebaze, International Coordinator, International Network Secretariat, Sustainability Watch Network, Kampala, Uganda
154. Charles Uphaus, Bread for the World, Washington, DC, USA
155. Boudy van Schagen, Eldis - the gateway to development information, United Kingdom
156. Ellen Verheul, Team Manager Advocacy, WEMOS, Netherlands
157. Bernard Veuthey, Washington, DC, USA
158. Knud Voecking, Urgewald, Germany
159. Gisela Von Muhlenbrock, Silver Spring, MD, USA
160. Ebru Voyvoda, FEAS, Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, METU, Ankara - TURKEY
161. Professor Robert H. Wade, Development Studies Institute (DESTIN), London School of Economics, United Kingdom
162. Chris Wangkay, Coordinator, People's Alliance for Debt Cancellation (GARPU), Jakarta, Indonesia
163. Michael Ward, Former Economist, World Bank, United Kingdom
164. David Wheeler, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development, Washington, DC, USA
165. John Williamson, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, USA
166. John Willoughby, Department of Economics, American University, Washington, DC, USA
167. Emilie Wilson, Brighton, United Kingdom
168. Heather Worley, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
169. Josep Xercavins i Valls, UBUNTU Forum Secretariat, Spain
170. Yongmei Zhou, Senior Economist, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
171. Elaine Zuckerman, President, Gender Action, Washington, DC, USA
The May 14 letter on "Leadership Selection Reform at the World Bank and IMF" was drafted by Colin Bradford (Brookings), Ralph Bryant (Brookings) and Ted Truman (Peterson Institute for International Economics) acting in their personal capacities. They were aided by Nancy Birdsall (Center for Global Development), Jo Marie Griesgraber (New Rules for Global Finance Coalition and John Williamson (Peterson Institute for International Economics) in finalizing and distributing the document. Their thanks go especially to Jamie Baker (New Rules for Global Finance Coalition) who collected and organized the signatures and conveyed the letter to the Executive Directors and Alternates of the World Bank and IMF on behalf of all the signatories.
Leadership Selection Reform at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund