§ 24. Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she next plans to meet representatives of the World bank to discuss governance in developing countries. [6136]
§ Clare ShortI have had discussions with the president of the World bank, James Wolfensohn, and his senior officials on a number of occasions throughout the year and, among other topics, have discussed governance.
My Department considers good governance to be crucial to achievement of the international development targets, and has recently published a Governance Target Strategy Paper. This sets out our agenda for building the capability of the state in developing and transitional countries, to govern in ways that promote poverty eradication. Copies of this document are available in the House of Commons Library and on our website.
An important priority in our governance strategy is to work in close collaboration with other development agencies, including the World bank, to promote and support a more coherent approach to making government work for poor people. My officials are pursuing this goal with colleagues in the World bank in the context of the Poverty Reduction Strategy framework, on a number of governance-related areas, including public financial management, public sector reform, and judicial reform.