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GAP and Paul Wolfowitz
GAP's work was crucial in exposing corruption at the World Bank and in the eventual resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. Click here to listen to the conference call detailing GAP's involvement in the Wolfowitz issue.
Program Highlight: World Bank Names Iraq Country Manager; Bank Report Shows Candidate Weak Choice
May 21, 2007 -- GAP has learned that Daniela Gressani, World Bank Vice President, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, announced the appointment of Simon Stolp as World Bank Resident Country Manager for Iraq today.
GAP has also obtained the report filed by the seven-member panel that interviewed the two finalists for the position, including Stolp. The panel concluded:
- The pool of candidates was extremely limited and particularly weak given the importance and visibility of the Iraq CM position.
- While Mr. Stolp was found to have relevant experiences and was thought to bring a number of strengths, the panel was left uncomfortable as to whether he could become a credible, substantive (as compared to procedural) representative of Bank with Iraqi and Donor counterparts, on account of his weak analytical background, and lack of knowledge about the Bank.
- Compared with candidates on other CM [Country Manager] short lists (e.g. Lebanon), Mr. Stolp would not place in the top third.
The timing of this appointment is surprising. Although Paul Wolfowitz did not explicitly say he would ‘recuse’ himself from ongoing personnel decisions at this level, he strongly implied that he would do so. Last Friday, May 18, Wolfowitz wrote the World Bank Board of Directors to say:
I believe all country manager and director personnel have been completed for the Spring, so I have no expectation of being involved in these or any other personnel actions.
For reasons related to security and effectiveness, both the Board and the staff at the Bank have previously expressed serious concerns regarding greater Bank presence in Iraq, in general, and about this appointment, in particular. GAP has questions related to this latest development:
- If Wolfowitz and Gressani are planning to expand lending operations in Iraq, aren’t they in violation of Bank regulations that prohibit activity in an ongoing conflict?
- Was Paul Wolfowitz involved in the decision to offer Stolp the position?
- Was another search conducted, as the interviewing panel requested?
- What will the relationship be between Stolp, as Country Manager and the U.S. and U.K armed forces?
- What are the security costs associated with this appointment?
- Why is this appointment being finalized now, when violence in Baghdad is widespread and intense?
Click here to read Gressani’s email announcing the appointment.
Click here to read to interview panel report.
Program Highlight: Records Involving World Bank Contractor Should be Unsealed
May 18, 2007 -- GAP has received information showing that Diligence, LLC, a firm that specializes in corporate intelligence gathering and espionage, is a contractor with the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) at the World Bank. Documents related to two lawsuits settled with Diligence remain under seal at the firm’s request. At the same time, the findings and practices of INT are currently under review by an external panel headed by Paul Volcker. GAP is concerned that a history of improper conduct on the part of Diligence may be concealed if the records and documents of lawsuits against the firm remain secret.
Click here to read GAP's full assessment.
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz Quits in Wake of GAP Documents
May 17, 2007 -- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is leaving the international organization in the wake of wide-ranging scandals based on multiple releases of documents over the last two months by GAP.
GAP has released evidence or exposed information showing: that Wolfowitz’s companion, Shaha Riza, received salary raises far in excess of those allowable under Bank rules; that Riza received a questionable consulting position with a U.S. defense contractor in 2003 at his direction that has resulted in State and Defense Department inquiries; that Juan José Daboub, Bank Managing Director and Wolfowitz-hire, attempted to remove references and funding for “family planning” in Bank projects; that Wolfowitz’ office was responsible for weakening a “climate change” strategy document; that Bank Senior Management delayed reporting to Bank staff that a fellow staffer had been seriously wounded in a shooting in Iraq; that World Bank lending to Africa during Fiscal Year of 2007 has plummeted; and that Wolfowitz was trying to broaden the Bank’s portfolio in Iraq over Board opposition.
Click here for the press release
Program Highlight: All Eyes on Wolfowitz
May 16, 2007 -- Reports have emerged today indicating that: the U.S. is trying to strike a deal with the World Bank regarding Paul Wolfowitz’ dismissal; that the deal was rejected by the Board; and that Wolfowitz’ resignation may be imminent.
To keep up to date with the latest developments, click on GAP’s blog, All Things Whistleblower.
Program Highlight: An Open Letter from the Riza Payroll Records Whistleblower
May 15, 2007 -- Today, GAP is posting an open letter from the Bank staffer who originally sent us the Shaha Riza payroll records. In the letter, the staff member urges the Bank to adopt real whistleblower protection policies, and a new, transparent process for determining the next president. The letter includes the following statements:
- "At the World Bank many of us believe that this unseemly episode clearly illustrates the need for rapid reform of the governance framework, in general, and the presidential selection process in particular."
- "Only an institution with no independent justice system could allow a discredited chief executive to cling to his position even after his self-dealing had been exposed and his actions had been determined to be grounds for dismissal."
- "We are a staff that is not protected by U.S. labor laws or by international law. No real whistleblower protections exist at the Bank. Nor are staff shielded from retaliation for exposing misconduct by any legal framework other than the one so badly compromised by the Bank president."
- "During the past weeks and months, many Bank staff members risked their jobs to expose mismanagement and malfeasance."
- “…this unprecedented situation revealed the underlying inadequacy of the Bank’s governing framework.”
- "The shareholders of the World Bank will have learned nothing from the damage done to the institution by Paul Wolfowitz if they again allow a minority shareholder to install a president of its choosing and to claim a defining and proprietary influence."
Click here to see the full letter.
Program Highlight: DoD Document Ties Wolfowitz, E. Cheney, Carpenter to Riza's Political Work in Iraq
May 8, 2007 -- A preliminary inquiry issued by the Department of Defense (DOD) Directorate for Investigations of Senior Officials office in April 2005 names Paul Wolfowitz as the government official who directed contractor SAIC to hire Shaha Riza. The document, obtained by Channel 4 News (UK) details the explicitly political role Shaha Riza played in post-invasion Iraq, while she was a World Bank employee, despite the fact that Bank staffers are prohibited from engaging in this type of work.
Recognizing Riza’s position at the Bank, the report states Wolfowitz told investigators that, regarding Riza:
“…strong opposition to the war was prevalent in the World Bank, so she incurred some professional risk in taking time off from her World Bank duties to engage in activity supporting the war.”
The document also shows that as early as 2003, Shaha Riza was cooperating with Wolfowitz at the U.S. Defense Department, and Elizabeth Cheney and J. Scott Carpenter at the U.S. State Department in her political work in Iraq.
Two years later, Wolfowitz, Cheney and Carpenter tried to arrange Riza’s ‘secondment’ to the State Department, in possible violation of U.S. appropriations laws. The arrangements finally made to transfer Riza from the World Bank to the U.S. State Department and then to the Foundation for the Future, in order to resolve a conflict of interest for Wolfowitz when he became World Bank President, are still unclear.
Click here to view the investigative Channel 4 report
Click here to read the DoDDISO inquiry
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz Aide Quits
May 7, 2007 -- Earlier today, Wolfowitz aide Kevin Kellems officially resigned from the World Bank. Kellems, one of two high-profile aides Wolfowitz brought with him upon assuming the presidency of the institution, has come under criticism in recent weeks for earning a high, tax-free salary at the Bank although he lacked experience in international development.
It should be noted that Kellems was also the individual who originally told Al Kamen of the Washington Post that the World Bank Board of Directors was responsible for Shaha Riza’s 2005 and 2006 raises. In a March 28 In The Loop column (which broke the story of Riza’s payroll records, obtained by GAP), Kamen quotes Kellems as stating: “All arrangements concerning Shaha Riza were made at the direction of the bank’s board of directors.”
Click here to read the original Washington Post column!
Click here to read today's news of Kellems' resignation!
Program Highlight: GAP Questions World Bank’s Role in Transfer of Frozen Funds to Kazakhstan
May 4, 2007 -- GAP has noticed with concern an announcement about the World Bank’s involvement in the disbursal of $84 million allegedly frozen as part of a corruption case involving senior officials of Kazakhstan. GAP is sending a letter to a Bank official to explain the involvement.
Click here to read the letter!
Click here to read the United Press International story about the subject!
Program Highlight: Document Indicates Riza Not Qualified for '05 Promotion
May 3, 2007 -- Lost in the shuffle of the numerous documents the World Bank Board of Directors released on April 13th, is the job announcement for the position Shaha Riza sought at the World Bank in May 2005. GAP has analyzed the description and points out that it indicates that Riza did not meet the minimum qualifications.
When Wolfowitz became Bank president and Riza, herself a Bank staffer, was assigned to work at the U.S. State Department to avoid a conflict of interest, they both claimed that she had been ‘shortlisted’ in the competition for this post, and that she therefore deserved an immediate promotion as a component of her transfer package. Wolfowitz claimed that Riza should be compensated for having to withdraw from a competition for promotion in which she was a finalist, stating “After being shortlisted for consideration as the Director of EXT for MENA, she has qualified for and should receive a promotion to H level at a mid-point salary level of $180,000 net income with mid-point, zone 5, annual increases which will approximate 8%.”
In looking at the job posting, however, the first in a list of 11 prerequisites for the position is: MA degree with a minimum of 15 years of relevant experience, or Ph.D. and 12 years of relevant experience, in communications, journalism, political science, international relations, public affairs, marketing or other related fields.
Riza was a Gender Specialist at the World Bank for the five years previous to her appointment as Senior Communications Specialist (level G) in November 2004. She received her appointment in the field of communications six months prior to the opening of the competition for the higher-level Communications Adviser position (level H). According to her résumé, released to the Ad Hoc Committee, she has a Masters degree in social studies.
The juxtaposition of Riza’s education and experience, on the one hand, and the requirements for the H level Communications Adviser position on the other, raise serious questions about her competitiveness as a candidate for the post, based on her qualifications alone. Her résumé shows that the most recent operations she worked on at the time were the “Integrating Gender” project in Tunisia, a “Gender Development” regional project in the Middle East, the “Gender Fund” in Morocco, and a “Gender Assessment” in Egypt.
Click here for Riza's statement submitted to the Ad Hoc Committee earlier this week.
Program Highlight: Former Bank General Counsel's & Ethics Chair Statements Challenge Wolfowitz' 'Recusal'
May 1, 2007 -- GAP is pointing out that the statement presented yesterday by Roberto Dañino, former World Bank General Counsel, to the Ad Hoc Committee investigating rule violations by President Paul Wolfowitz directly challenges Wolfowitz’ basic defense. Wolfowitz and his attorneys assert that he acted in “good faith” in trying to recuse himself from the matter involving Shaha Riza, his companion, who also worked at the Bank. The Dañino statement details that Wolfowitz, through his attorney, defined his own recusal as an offer only not to interfere in personnel matters (which would not have concerned him anyway) while maintaining unrestricted ongoing professional contact with Riza. This offer did not constitute recusal under Bank rules or in any commonly understood sense of the term and as a result, it was rejected by the ‘Deans’ of the Bank Board.
GAP's press release details how Dañino's statement makes this clear. Click here for the release.
Click here for Dañino's statement
Melkert's Statement
GAP is also pointing out that Ad Melkert, former Chair of the Ethics Committee of the World Bank Board of Directors, in submitting his statement today to the Ad Hoc Committee, echoed the remarks made by Roberto Dañino yesterday regarding President Paul Wolfowitz’ “recusal.” Melkert’s statement, like Dañino’s, directly challenges statements made yesterday by Wolfowitz and his attorney in which he claims to have acted in “good faith” when arranging an improper pay and promotion package for his partner, Shaha Riza.
Click here to read GAP's press release.
Click here for Melkert's statement.
Program Highlight: GAP Points Out Misrepresentations in Wolfowitz' Statement
April 30, 2007 -- GAP is calling attention to inaccuracies and misrepresentations in the documents World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and his legal team provided to the World Bank Ad Hoc Committee earlier today. For GAP's full detailing of the misrepresentations, please click on GAP's press release.
Click here for the press release
Click here for Wolfowitz' statement to the Ad Hoc Committee
Click here for his lawyers' submission to the Ad Hoc Committee
Program Highlight: Orders to Play Down Climate Change Came from Wolfowitz' Office
April 27, 2007 -- GAP has acquired an internal World Bank document that summarizes a meeting of World Bank officials regarding climate change and clean energy that took place in February 2006. The document indicates that orders to tone down references to “climate change” in an environmental strategy paper originated in the office of Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Click here to read the document
Earlier today, GAP also posted the following:
Wolfowitz and Cleveland Misrepresent Riza Assignment to World Bank Board
On April 13, the World Bank Board made public numerous documents provided by President Paul Wolfowitz concerning the arrangements he and his office made with the U.S. State Department for his companion, Shaha Riza. Sources inside the Bank have told GAP that when the documents were provided to the Board, Wolfowitz’ office did not anticipate that they would be circulated beyond the Board and subjected to legal scrutiny. GAP’s examination of the memos, e-mails and letters shows that, although the Ethics Committee of the Board directed Wolfowitz to detail Riza to a post outside the Bank and beyond his supervision, in fact, he apparently never actually did this.
Click here to read GAP’s full explanation
Click here to read the documents
Program Highlight: GAP Points Out that Riza Not Seconded to State Department
April 26, 2007 -- Mixed in the wealth of documents released last week by the World Bank, it is evident that Shaha Riza, the pivotal partner figure in the Paul Wolfowitz scandal, appears to have never been seconded to the State Department. The memo released by the Board dated October 5, 2005, from J. Scott Carpenter, a State Department official, to Xavier Cole, World Bank Human Resources, reads as follows:
“I would like to take this opportunity to note that we [State] do not view Ms. Riza as detailed or seconded to the U.S. Government.”
Bea Edwards, GAP International Director, commented: “World Bank staff members are prohibited from doing political work for shareholding governments. Shaha Riza was assigned by the Bank to promote an overtly political U.S. agenda in the Middle East while still on staff. Wolfowitz does not appear ever to have understood that the World Bank is not a franchise of the Bush administration, and that is the root of his problems there.”
This revelation adds more questions to the Riza-SAIC contract, of which GAP has called on numerous questions to be answered (see 4/24 Program Highlight, below).
Program Highlight: GAP Raises Questions Regarding Riza-SAIC Deal
April 24, 2007 -- Allegations concerning the personal/professional relationship between World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Shaha Riza now extend to their work together at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). In 2003, the DoD awarded Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) eight contracts that were subsequently reviewed by the DoD Inspector General (IG). A convergence of unusual facts about the contract issued to Shaha Riza by SAIC raises red flags about the propriety of the arrangement, and questions remain that GAP feels should be clarified by SAIC and DoD. Click here to read GAP's fact sheet and background information regarding the SAIC deal. This fact sheet/summary leads GAP to ask the following questions:
1. What were the terms under which Riza was paid by SAIC?
2. Did Riza have a security clearance for this contract? If so, how did she acquire it so quickly, given that she was not a U.S. national?
3. Did the appropriate authorities at the World Bank know that Riza was simultaneously a Bank employee and a consultant for a defense contractor?
4. Why did the Pentagon inquiry into Riza’s SAIC contract, which found her to be “uniquely qualified”, not reference the DoD IG’s report of March ’04, which determined that her contract had been written to fit her skills?
5. How did Paul Wolfowitz communicate to SAIC that Riza should be hired as a subject matter expert?
6. Will there be a new DoD inquiry into the propriety of Wolfowitz’ role in SAIC’s hiring of Shaha Riza in 2003?
7. Who at the World Bank approved her leave and under what circumstances?
Program Highlight: More Pressure on Wolfowitz
April 23, 2007 -- Over forty former senior Bank officials signed a letter urging Wolfowitz to step aside in the interests of the Bank itself. They declared that the World Bank can no longer carry out its mission with any moral authority so long as Wolfowitz remains its President. The letter stated:
We believe that [Paul Wolfowitz] can no longer be an effective leader. He has lost the trust and respect of Bank staff at all levels, provoked a rift among senior managers, developed tense relations with the Board, damaged his own credibility on good governance – his flagship issue – and alienated some key shareholders at a time when their support is essential for a successful replenishment of the resources needed to help the poorest countries, especially in Africa.
Click here to read the letter!
At the same time, the Director General of the Independent Evaluation Group, a unit charged with assessing the effectiveness of World Bank projects, delivered a strongly worded message to the Bank’s Board of Directors. The memo expressed concern about the damage Wolfowitz has done to the Bank and the danger that his continued tenure will do more. The Director General identified three serious problems for the Bank, and charged Wolfowitz with the responsibility for creating them:
- An increasing lack of transparency in the application of the Bank’s development policies, for example, in population, climate change, governance and anti-corruption.
- Serious breaches of internal HR policies in certain instances, which creates double standards and also impairs the Bank’s ability to engage with clients on governance issues.
- Parallel lines of authority and bypassing of lines, leaving clients and staff confused and demoralized.
The statement called on the Board to find a “proper and quick resolution” to these problems and ended with an acknowledgement that it is now time to reassess the entire governance structure of the World Bank and address its deficiencies.
Click here to read the statement!
Program Highlight: Bank Executive Directors Reject Proposed Family Planning Strategy
April 20, 2007 -- GAP has learned that on April 19, the Executive Directors (EDs) at the World Bank rejected the proposed Strategy for Health, Nutrition and Population. Writing to Joy Phumaphi, the Vice President and Head of the Human Development Network, the EDs stated: “[W]e still have major concerns about this document and cannot support it in its present form.”
In the memo the EDs expressed their frustration at directing Bank management repeatedly to amend the strategy document by adding greater emphasis and detail on family planning and sexual and reproductive health issues. Specifically, the EDs criticized the documents provided to them by management for the limited importance the strategy assigns to these services. In addition, they admonish management for apparently ignoring these same directions from the Bank’s governors. In the note, the EDs make clear their impatience with management’s intransigence:
We need to see explicit recognition in the strategy document that sexual and reproductive health and family planning will indeed form part of Bank efforts in strengthening country health systems.
The displeasure of the EDs follows the increasingly public clash between the staff and the board on the one hand and the anti-family planning Managing Director, Juan José Daboub on the other. An e-mail trail shows staff distress over Daboub’s previous directions to strip family-planning services out of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Madagascar. Despite the written evidence, Daboub has denied he made the changes to the Madagascar CAS, and Paul Wolfowitz has denied that any change to the Bank’s longstanding support for family planning services is afoot.
Click here to read the memo
Click here to read the Los Angeles Times story
Click here to read the Morning Edition story
Program Highlight: SAIC Contract Indicated Riza Paid
April 18, 2007 -- Yesterday, GAP released the contract showing that Shaha Riza performed consulting work for defense contractor SAIC in Iraq between March and May of 2003. Total funds paid to SAIC for services, according to the contract, equal $235,231.28. Riza’s attorney has informed the press that she was not paid by SAIC. The details of the contract and Riza’s public statements are at odds and raise serious questions that need clarification.
Click here to read the press release
Program Highlight: GAP Releases SAIC-Riza Contract
April 17, 2007 -- GAP is releasing the contract between Science Application International Corporation (SAIC) and the U.S. Defense Department (Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance) from 2003. The contract shows that Shaha Riza, the companion of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, now caught up in a scandal involving her salary raises, did work for SAIC from March 2003 to May 2003. GAP is also releasing the Department of Defense’s Inspector General’s assessment of the contract, which shows that a DoD official specifically requested Shaha Riza to work on the contract.
Click here to see the contract
Click here to see the DoDIG report
Click here to read GAP's press release
Program Highlight: Law Firm-Conflict of Interest Questions Raised by Bank Staff
April 16, 2007 -- Ana Palacio, the World Bank’s General Counsel, last week issued an announcement to staff naming Jonathan Kravis, an associate at the law firm of Williams & Connolly, as the attorney handling an investigation into the leak of Bank documents to Fox News for pieces airing on January 31, 2007 and March 27, 2007.
On April 15, 2007, The Washington Post reported that Paul Wolfowitz’ personal attorney, Robert Barnett, negotiated the terms of his employment contract with the World Bank in 2005. Barnett has been a partner at Williams & Connolly since 1978.
Bank sources are now questioning the potential conflict of interest for the law firm, given that a primary focus of the leak investigation is a “top insider in Wolfowitz's circle." Questions posed to GAP include:
- Did Williams and Connolly raise the potential conflict of interest with Ana Palacio when she retained the firm to conduct the investigation into the Fox News stories? Was an appropriate waiver signed by Ms. Palacio on behalf of the client, the World Bank Board?
- Did Palacio disclose the potential conflict of interest to the Board and secure their agreement prior to signing any waiver on their behalf?
- Who is supervising Mr. Kravis' work on this issue?
Program Highlight: GAP Points Out Bank Board Given Wrong Information
April 13, 2007 -- Inside sources at the World Bank have pointed out an important misrepresentation in the World Bank Board Report regarding the Paul Wolfowitz-Shaha Riza scandal.
Click here to read GAP's take on the misrepresentation
Click here to read the full report of the committee investigating the Riza matter.
Program Highlight: Email and Draft Strategy Show Family Planning Removed from Bank's Africa Plans
April 12, 2007 -- Today, GAP is releasing an email obtained from World Bank sources showing that Managing Director (MD) Juan José Daboub instructed a team of Bank specialists to delete all references to family planning from the proposed Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Madagascar. Daboub is the top official in charge of setting African lending policy and health sector strategy. The email is dated March 8, 2007. GAP has also obtained a draft from Daboub’s office of the pending Health, Nutrition, and Population Strategy (HNP), which mentions family planning only once. In contrast, the previous HNP (1997), which set priorities in this topic area for CASs, identifies lack of access to family planning services as a primary health challenge. This comes in direct contradiction to statements made by Bank President Paul Wolfowitz at a press conference earlier today.
Click here to read the email
Click here to read the draft strategy
Click here to read GAP's full press release
Program Highlight: Bank Staffer Comments Show Outrage; Low Morale
April 11, 2007 -- GAP is releasing the comments of World Bank staffers that were posted on the organization’s internal communications server. The comments, 221 in all, show the low level of staff morale and the outrage toward Bank senior management.
Click here to read the first part of the comments
Click here to read the second part of the comments
Click here to read GAP's press release
Also, GAP is publicly releasing a memo from the World Bank General Counsel to all staff showing that Bank management has retained a law firm to identify whistleblowers. GAP International Director Bea Edwards responded: “Clearly, this is an attempt by Bank management to create a climate of intimidation and to silence whistleblowers, both past and future.”
Click here to read the memo
Program Highlight: Bank Staff Association Responds
April 11, 2007 -- An anonymous World Bank source has sent GAP the Staff Association's response to the World Bank's Senior V.P. and General Counsel's announcement regarding the Bank management's retainment of a law firm to investigate recent leaks. This response highlights the distress of the staff caught in a crossfire of leaks, investigators looking for leakers and potential whistleblowers seeking protection. As the message makes clear, an institutional climate of suspicion makes the adoption of an effective whistleblower protection policy urgent and the reform of the Bank’s biased and feeble Conflict Resolution System crucial.
Click here for the Staff Association Response
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz Sends out Problematic Statement
April 9, 2007 -- Paul Wolfowitz, in the middle of a scandal that GAP documents ignited, sent out a statement to Bank staff over email. There are several problems with the statement, as detailed in GAP's response.
Click here to read Wolfowitz' statement
Click here to read GAP's response
Program Highlight: Riza Failed to Get Approval for Working at SAIC
April 6, 2007 -- GAP has learned that Shaha Riza, long-time companion of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and fellow Bank staffer, did not receive Bank approval for outside employment as a consultant for a major U.S. defense contractor during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.
Click here for the press release!
Program Highlight: GAP Documents Show World Bank Staff "Outraged" Over Wolfowitz' Girlfriend's Raises
April 5, 2007 -- A news story broken using documents obtained by GAP showing that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz’ girlfriend, also a Bank staffer, received salary raises far in excess of what Bank rules and protocol stipulate has caused an uproar among Bank staff employees, as evidenced by an internal Bank email from the World Bank Staff Association.
Click here to read GAP's press release.
Click here to read the World Bank Staff Association email indicating outrage from staff!
Click here to read the World Bank payroll records of Shaha Riza (Wolfowitz's girlfriend) showing excessive raises.
Program Highlight: GAP Hails African Development Bank Whistleblower Policy
April 2, 2007 -- Today, GAP applauded the African Development Bank’s (AFDB) new whistleblower protection policy, approved on January 27 by its Board of Directors and currently headed for implementation. The policy sets a new standard for protecting staff members and others from retaliation when they report fraud or corruption in AFDB operations.
Click here for the press release!
Click here for the actual AFDB whistleblower policy!
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz to Push Bad Loans
March 16, 2007 -- GAP has new information regarding the World Bank’s drop in lending for African programs for fiscal year 2007 (click here for Wednesday’s press release).
Inside sources from the Bank have informed GAP that Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has set an impossibly high target for lending to Africa by July 1, the end of the fiscal year. To meet last year’s level, the Bank, would have to lend $3 billion in the next 15 weeks. GAP has learned that Wolfowitz plans to actually surpass that amount and will attempt to push through $4.7 billion in new commitments in the next 3 months alone. Africa region staff are facetiously calling this excess of money “the surge.” Wolfowitz has also moved up a Bank Board meeting from next Thursday to this coming Monday, when, we’ve also learned, he will name a new Africa Vice President.
It is impossible to finalize lending at this level in so short a time and still provide quality projects to the region, as detailed in our press release. Moving $3 billion through the rigorous Bank approval and safeguard process in 15 weeks could only be accomplished if serious shortcuts are taken.
Click here to read the All Headline News article about the fall in Africa lending.
Program Highlight: World Bank Lending to Africa Plummets
March 14, 2007 -- GAP has learned that through the first nine months of fiscal year 2007, the World Bank’s lending to poor African countries has plummeted relative to the amount lent through the same time period last year. The lending lapse has occurred despite Bank president Paul Wolfowitz’ frequent public statements that the region is his top priority.
Click here to see the World Bank's own graph detailing the lending shortcoming!
Click here to read GAP's press release!
Program Highlight: Wolfowitz Takes Action to Gear Up World Bank for Iraq
February 16, 2007 -- GAP has learned from inside sources that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is currently negotiating a contract with a new resident Iraq Country Director. This step strongly suggests that Wolfowitz intends to expand Bank-funded projects there dramatically in the near future, bearing out the fears expressed by senior career staff and Board members when Wolfowitz was appointed by the Bush administration in June 2005. GAP’s inside sources have stated that Board members are opposed to this action.
Click here to read the full press release!
Click here to read related World Bank documents! These include: The ISN Note from September 2005, detailing how Wolfowitz is to keep the Board regularly detailed on Iraq developments; and a December 2006 internal memo detailing what conditions Iraq project disbursement requirements are contingent upon!
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