§ Mr. BestTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on reform of representation of poor countries on the World Bank and IMF. [118414]
§ John HealeyIn our 2000 White Paper—"Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor"—the Government made a commitment to strengthen the voice of developing countries in the international system. We are actively pursuing this agenda in three broad ways both at the IMF and World Bank.
Firstly, strengthening developing country offices in the IMF and World Bank. Many of these offices suffer from a lack of capacity, combined with a heavy workload. That is why, earlier this year, we pushed for the provision of extra staff to the Sub-Saharan African offices. This was subsequently agreed at both the Fund and Bank. We also support the provision of more training opportunities, improved links between Washington-based delegations and their Capitals and the creation of a Fund that these offices can draw on to finance analysis.
Secondly, we actively encourage the two institutions to recognise their own role in strengthening the representation of developing countries, for example through increased staff diversity.
Thirdly, increasing developing country representation and voting rights on the Executive Board. The UK believes that the issues of developing country representation on the Executive Board—particularly for Africa—and increasing the basic vote, both merit serious consideration.
All of these issues are being discussed at both the IMF and World Bank and the UK will continue to push for early and substantive progress.
§ David TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the need for greater representation for poor countries on(a) the World Bank and (b) the International Monetary Fund. [118678]
§ John HealeyThe Department for International Development and the Treasury continually assess the effectiveness of the IMF and World Bank. And a central990W pillar of our efforts to increase their effectiveness has been to encourage greater developing country ownership of policy reforms and decisions.
Experience suggests that when countries 'own' their policies, they are more likely to implement them. That is why both IMF and World Bank resources are increasingly being used in support of country-led strategies, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.
This ownership agenda also extends to the institutions themselves. In our 2000 White Paper—"Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor"—the Government made a commitment to strengthen the voice of developing countries in the international system. The need to address this problem was subsequently endorsed by all UN member states at the International Conference on Financing for Development in March 2002.
Since then the IMF and World Bank have been actively progressing this agenda, most recently at their spring meetings in April. The UK has strongly supported this work and will continue to push for early and substantive progress.