The independent agency charged with assessing the effectiveness of the World Bank has issued a searing indictment of Paul Wolfowitz’s leadership, warning that the situation at the bank risks causing “irreparable harm to worldwide efforts in poverty reduction and sustainable development”.
In a formal statement seen by the Financial Times, which the bank’s board will consider this week, the Independent Evaluation Group called for “swift changes in management and a concerted effort to restore credibility”.
Pressure on Mr Wolfowitz to resign as the bank’s president intensified on Monday when 42 of its senior former executives called on him to step down in an open letter published in the FT. “There is only one way for Mr Wolfowitz to further the mission of the bank: he must resign,” the letter said.
The call comes as the board prepares to reach judgment on whether Mr Wolfowitz broke bank rules or ethics when he ordered its human resources chief to give his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a large pay rise as part of a secondment package.
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