Call for meritocracy in appointing World Bank leader – heard or unheard?
Reacting to the announcement that Robert Zoellick is stepping down as World Bank President, a global coalition of campaigners has called for an open and merit-based process to elect the next World Bank leader, and for developing countries to determine the selection. Diversity aspects have been included in the discussion, which may or may not have been successful.
In the light of the World Bank’s overwhelming global importance, a broad coalition was formed, aiming at influencing the appointment process of the future President. The campaigners, including Oxfam, Eurodad and the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad), have publicly requested a transparent (s)election process, which should include consistent criteria. They also asked the US to announce that it will no longer seek to monopolise the Presidential position. Elizabeth Stuart of Oxfam said: “The way the World Bank picks its president needs to change. The bank only operates in developing countries, so any candidate not supported by a majority of these countries would plainly lack legitimacy.”
In an open letter to World Bank governors, the campaigners demanded that: The new President is selected not just by a majority of voting shares but by a majority of World Bank member countries, the majority of which are from low and middle-income countries. They also requested that the selection process is open to anyone to apply, with interviews held in public and with open voting procedures. The final point claimed is that there should be a clear job description and required qualifications should be set out, and that these include a strong understanding and experience of the particular problems which developing countries are facing.
In the meantime, US president Obama nominated Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to become president of the World Bank. Kim co-founded Partners in Health, and led a World Health Organization campaign to treat 3 million patients with HIV/AIDS. White House officials said “Kim has support in developing countries and his experience makes him ideally suited to forge partnerships all around the world”. Clearly, US president Obama has taken action, but whether this move has acknowledged the public campaign, or whether the nomination is in the interest of the US, the World Bank or the developing countries, this is left to individual interpretation.
