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WASHINGTON DC / ZOELLICK
STORY: WASHINGTON DC / ZOELLICK
TRT: 1.23
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 6 APRIL 2011, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, WASHINGTON DC
6 APRIL, 2011, WASHINGTON DC
1. Med shot, car arriving and Zoellick getting out and shaking hands
2. Med shot, Zoellick getting up from audience seat and going to podium and starting to speak
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group:
“Our message to our clients, whatever their political system, is that you cannot have successful development without good governance and without the participation of your citizens.”
4. Med shot, audience listening
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group:
“If governments will free the way for private sector opportunity, if governments will move beyond oligarchies and oligopolies, if governments will tap the energies of their societies, and respect public choice, there is much that can be done. And no country can reach its potential if it ignores the abilities of half its people, women and girls.”
6. Close up, woman listening
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group:
“The direct opportunity cost of youth unemployment in the Arab world is estimated at up to $50 billion a year. Governments in the Middle East now face huge expectations from their young populations – they want jobs now. Inaction poses risks. So will the wrong actions. Policy reform will be as important as money. But policy reforms must be underpinned by a broad-based and inclusive consultative process – including with young stakeholders. And reforms must be transparent and must be fast.”
8. Wide shot, audience listening
9. Close up, man listening
The crisis engulfing the Middle East and North Africa showed that greater citizen participation and better governance are crucial for economic development and the World Bank will do more to emphasize both, said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.
In a policy address before the World Bank’s Spring Meetings, Zoellick said the Bank would not only promote institutional reforms but also look into providing more support for civil society as a way of making government more accountable to people.
SOUNDBITE (English) Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group:
“Our message to our clients, whatever their political system, is that you cannot have successful development without good governance and without the participation of your citizens.”
Zoellick noted that issues such as corruption, gender and transparency were in the past not mentioned at the World Bank because they were seen as too political. But over the last 20 years, each had become recognized as crucial for successful development and are now part of the Bank’s policy portfolio. Likewise, citizen participation and good governance are recognized today as must haves for economic success.
SOUNDBITE (English) Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group: “If governments will free the way for private sector opportunity, if governments will move beyond oligarchies and oligopolies, if governments will tap the energies of their societies, and respect public choice, there is much that can be done. And no country can reach its potential if it ignores the abilities of half its people, women and girls.”
Surveying the economic performance in the Middle East and North Africa, Zoellick noted it is the region that is poorly integrated into the global economy. It also suffers the highest unemployment among developing regions; the highest jobless rates among the best educated; the lowest economic participation rates by women. Its governments now faced enormous expectations to provide jobs quickly.
SOUNDBITE (English) Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group:
“The direct opportunity cost of youth unemployment in the Arab world is estimated at up to $50 billion a year. Governments in the Middle East now face huge expectations from their young populations – they want jobs now. Inaction poses risks. So will the wrong actions. Policy reform will be as important as money. But policy reforms must be underpinned by a broad-based and inclusive consultative process – including with young stakeholders. And reforms must be transparent and must be fast.”
Summing up the needs in the Middle East and North Africa, Zoellick said: “They want a new social contract. They want dignity. They want respect. And if they are women, they want these same things.”
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