The Conable Years at the World Bank Public Disclosure Authorized Major Policy Addresses of Barber B. Conable, 1986-91 * - s. • aJI= Public Disclosure Authorized -ý i 0 wiv Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The Conable Years at the World Bank Major Policy Addresses of Barber B. Conable, 1986-91 The World Bank Washington, D.C. 1991 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/tHE WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. Manufactured in the United States of America First printing August 1991 Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Conable, Barber B. The conable years at the World Bank: major policy addresses of Barber B. Conable, 1986-91. p. cm. IsBN 0-8213-1901-9 1. World Bank. 2. Economic assistance-Developing countries. 3. Economic development-Environmental aspects. 4. Women- Developing countries--Economic conditions. I. Title. HG3881.5.W57C66 1991 91-27771 332.1'532'091724-dc20 CIP Foreword The Executive Directors of the World Bank commissioned this publica- tion to mark the retirement of Barber B. Conable after five years of dedicated and productive service as President of the World Bank. This selection from Barber Conable's major addresses reflects the prior- ities that the Bank adopted under his leadership: the reduction of poverty, protection of the environment, and the integration of women in the development process. Barber Conable believes it is a moral outrage that one-fifth of the world's people still live on less than one dollar a day. He believes development can be sustained only if it respects the natural environment. And he believes that economic development programs can be fully effective only if women are involved in their planning and implementation. Under Barber Conable's leadership these priorities have become central to the Bank's development agenda. We hope this collection of speeches will enhance public understanding of the Conable years at the World Bank. They reflect both his passionate concern for the poor and his determination to help improve their lives. This spirit is perhaps best expressed in Barber Conable's own words: When we read statistics, we must see real people. When we confront problems, we must cast them as opportunities. When we doubt our energy or question our faith in development, we must take fresh resolve from the reality that on our work depends the fate of millions. The Board of Directors iii Contents 1. To the Board of Governors Washington, D.C., September 30, 1986 1 2. To the Safe Motherhood Conference Nairobi, Kenya, February 10, 1987 13 3. To the World Resources Institute Washington, D.C., May 5, 1987 21 4. To the Board of Governors Washington, D.C., September 29, 1987 31 5. To the World Affairs Council of Northern California San Francisco, California, March 21, 1988 43 6. To the German Society for the United Nations and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce Bonn, Germany, May 26, 1988 53 7. To the Board of Governors Berlin (West), Germany, September 27, 1988 63 8. To the Ministerial Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee Montreal, Canada, December 6, 1988 77 9. To the Board of Governors Washington, D.C., September 26, 1989 89 10. To the International Planned Parenthood Federation Ottawa, Canada, November 6, 1989 101 11. At a Loan Signing Ceremony Warsaw, Poland, February 22, 1990 111 12. To the World Conference on Education for All Jomtien, Thailand, March 6, 1990 119 13. To the Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank Montreal, Canada, April 2, 1990 131 V 14. To the Bretton Woods Conference on Africa's Finance and Development Crisis Washington, D.C., April 25, 1990 139 15. To the Board of Governors Washington, D.C., September 25, 1990 145 16. To the International Institute for Environment and Development London, England, March 19, 1991 155 17. To the Organization of African Unity Abuja, Nigeria, June 4, 1991 163 18. To the Annual Meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee Washington, D.C., July 10, 1991 173 Vi 1. To the Board of Governors Welcome to these Annual Meetings. Welcome especially to the dele- gates from our newest member nations: Kiribati and Poland. I was born in a town named Warsaw. I was educated in Ithaca. I began my legal career in Batavia. For twenty years in the Congress of the United States, I represented the citizens of Lima, Attica, Avon, Castile, Corfu, Bergen, Java, and Greece, as they are generally pronounced. Those place names in upstate New York are part of my heritage. Those small communities bear witness to the wider world from which America drew its people, culture, and beliefs, including our belief in collective action to solve common problems. Collective action against global poverty is the common purpose that brings us together today. It brought the World Bank into being four decades ago, and it still defines the goals that I intend to serve with all my energy for the next five years. By training I am a lawyer, a negotiator. I also know the duties of the public servant, who must both lead and respond to constituents. And though I am neither banker nor development technician, I am familiar with the challenges ofinternational economics and trade. Moreover the discipline of the politics of democracy has educated me not only in conciliating conflicting views and interests but also in seeing the impact of grand designs on individual lives and private aspirations. I come to you and to this great institution, then, ready both to learn and to lead. Having retired from public life, I did not expect such an opportunity for public service. I welcome the challenge with enthusiasm ... as I will welcome your advice and support in meeting it. I will also, however, genuinely miss the help of two distinguished col- leagues, leaders who have contributed much to strengthening interna- tional cooperation in the development field. Ghulam Ishaq Khan is ending his extended term as chairman of the Development Committee. He has guided us wisely and firmly, endowing this committee with lasting Washington, D.C., September 30, 1986 2 Washington, D.C. influence and significance. We owe him our deep thanks. And Jacques de Larosiere will be leaving the helm of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he has served the international community with sensitivity and distinction. He has contributed to intensified IMF-World Bank cooperation, and I wish to acknowledge his advice and help to me in recent months. He has been a superbly effective leader of the Fund. We all are grateful for his contribution and regretful at his departure. The central challenge to the World Bank is the central concern of our world. It is the same in 1986 as in 1946: to mobilize the will and the resources of the affluent and of the afflicted alike in the global battle against poverty. We have made real progress in that fight. We still have much to do. We have done well. We must, we can do better. For the Bank to achieve the results of which it is capable, it needs not a new direction but a renewed drive, a reinvigorated dedication to its original and enduring purpose. That purpose is development. The Bank's role is to lead in that process, and my priority as President will be to ensure resolute leadership for sustained development. Ortega y Gasset has written: "Nations are formed, are kept alive by the fact that they have a program for tomorrow." The same is true of institutions, and the World Bank family of institutions must have a program for tomorrow, not just to live itself, but to lead in making the lives of millions better, fuller, more promising. The leadership program for sustained development that I wish to present to you today builds on the experience and expertise the Bank has accumulated-the solid, enormous assets of our dedicated and skillful staff. We do not have to reinvent the wheel of development. Its pioneers and past masters are already here and hard at work. My program also capitalizes on the Bank's physical assets-the financial strength and high liquidity that enable us to move with speed and decisive impact, to lead where private initiatives and investors can confidently follow in implementing strategies of both adjustment and development. September 30, 1986 3 Finally, I intend to use to the maximum the Bank's unique pivotal position in the development process--our central place in the world of private and governmental finance and our broad and deep political support in the developed and the developing world. Those sources of strength have made the Bank an institution that is larger and more powerful than its parts. We must use this power in a coordinated ap- proach, to take the lead again in the quest for sustained development. The ingredients of that approach blend the Bank's past accomplishments with its continuing and changing responsibilities. Let me spell out the elements that I believe are basic to leadership for sustained development. First, let us be clear about our goal. We are a force for development, not primarily an agency for debt management. We will exert our influence * To shield the development process from the volatility of global financial markets and aid flows * To encourage freer world trade * To help reduce the relative burden of Third World debt, so that through a resumption of growth borrowing again can become a stim- ulus to progress. In these ways we can make genuine economic growth the healing antidote wherever poverty is poisoning people's lives and their hopes for the future.