YouSaid · the spoken record

Wolfensohn

lines on the record: 33
first: 2000-01-10
most recent: 2005-05-26
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We welcome the fact that the Secretary-General has identified the need for a Peacebuilding Commission. We welcome the opportunity to participate with the Security Council, and we think that together, we might be able to get your shareholders and our shareholders at the level of heads of State and, hopefully, at the level of the congresses and Governments to understand that what we are putting to them is not some radical new insight. It is common sense, and the world needs to have some of that if we are going to avoid more wars.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“It is easy to photograph wars. Peacebuilding does not get headlines. It is a long-term, tough, day-after-day activity. It is that issue that I hope that the Secretary- General and those on the Peacebuilding Commission will be able to address in their work. My own judgement is that the solution is not rocket science. It is not something that requires doing doctorates in politics or economics. It is common sense. But it is a common sense that our world does not have. Our world does not give longer-term support to the turgid process of building States. That is a problem we face throughout the issue of development and one that I think we need vigorously to address with respect to the post-conflict period. In conclusion, very simply, I believe that our analysis and the Council's analysis are very similar.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“Whatever it is, it belongs to the political side, with which the Security Council is so familiar, but it becomes another condition precedent, exacerbating the problem of the post- conflict situation, as compared to normal development considerations. After that, the issues of country ownership, of a comprehensive approach and of working together - the Council, the Bank and other agencies - to support a strengthened local Government and local ownership, are exactly the same. We must get local ownership. We must try and deal with that. And the issue here, so sadly true, is that the international community's attention span in bringing about longer-term and even medium-term reconstruction disappears when the bombs stop going off and the headlines dissipate because no one is getting killed. It is hard to photograph peacebuilding.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“For us at the World Bank, it has taken some time to recognize that the issues of post-conflict situations are the same as those of non-post-conflict situations. The same preconditions are needed for growth in all countries. We are not inventing something new for post-conflict situations. The problem is that in post- conflict situations, the capacity needed is much greater because of the after-effects of the conflict. Of course, we have the additional issue of calming down the causes that may have generated the conflict. That is a fifth dimension we must address in our post-conflict work together. What caused the conflict? Was it inequity? Was it a desire for diamonds? Was it a desire for natural resources? Or was it long-term cultural differences?”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“The third issue is that of re-establishing some sort of financial framework so that the people in the country can bring about investment, from micro-credit through to financing small- and medium-sized industry or, indeed, attracting outside investment. The fourth precondition is making sure that you deal with the issue of corruption. I note those four elements - capacity, legal and judicial systems, financial systems and corruption - because they pervade the reports of the United Nations itself, including the recent report, "In larger freedom" (A/59/2005), as well as being raised in earlier reports of the Secretary-General. It is therefore not surprising that we should come back to the issue of taking a comprehensive approach to development in the post- conflict arena.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“Having said that, that particular problem is exacerbated in post-conflict situations because, very often, the people are not there or have been killed or because in-built antagonisms between one side and the other remain. So, putting together that first strand of capacity becomes critically important, and we must deal with that. The second element, which, again, we often forget, is that you cannot have a viable State unless you have judicial and legal systems that can protect rights. That too becomes very important in post-conflict situations, where rights - whether physical rights, human rights or rights to contract - are very often tremendously weakened in the post-conflict period. But the second issue remains the same: establishing a form of legal order.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“It really is this line of thought that permeates the excellent report "In larger freedom", on issues of want, fear and dignity, in which the Secretary-General pointed again to a precursor to this notion of a Peacebuilding Commission. To take the mystery out of this, let me say that the way we look at it is as follows. Whether a country is poor and peaceful, or whether, as in at least 50 per cent of cases, a country is poor and in post-conflict, exactly the same considerations prevail as to whether you can bring hope and economic development to those countries. The considerations are always the same. You must have a strengthening of capacity. You must have people in the country who can in fact run the country. In that context, the issue of capacity-building is essential.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“Thus, from our point of view, the issue of the transition from conflict to that intermediate zone in which we have worked together in so many countries, to the third area to which the Secretary-General has paid such attention, which is the building of peace, we recognize the interdependence between our institution and the various arms of the United Nations. Last night I read the Secretary-General's report of a couple of years ago on the prevention of armed conflict. As I read it, I was reminded again of the closeness of our perceptions of the issues when the Secretary-General pointed out that an effective prevention strategy requires a comprehensive approach and encompasses both short-term and long-term political, diplomatic and economic considerations.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“All of us in our institution recognize that, at the moment, the weighting is hugely and substantially on the military side, on the intervention side, on the prevention or the concluding of wars, but far too little is spent on winning the war of peace. The numbers are compelling, as I think the Security Council well knows, maybe better than anybody. Military expenditure accounts for $1,000 billion a year, including, sadly, more than $200 billion by developing countries, and that we spend maybe $50 or $60 billion on development assistance. Separate from that, of course, we still have the problems of trade that will be discussed later in the year in the conclusion of the Doha Round.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“Let me start by saying that the World Bank - certainly under my incumbency, which will last another five days, and, I strongly believe, under that of my successor, Paul Wolfowitz - is deeply committed to cooperating with the Security Council on the suggestions of the Secretary-General to have a Peacebuilding Commission, with which we would work closely. The reason for this is not just our admiration for the United Nations and for the Secretary-General; it is because all of us here strongly believe that it is essential to change the balance that exists between making peace, in terms of stopping conflict, and building peace, in terms of the creation of hope and viable States.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“Mr. Wolfensohn: I should tell you, Mr. President, that two of our buildings have just been evacuated because of explosions in the transformers, which were to set the scene for me for this meeting. This gives some idea of what post-conflict is like, and it just shows the attention to detail that there is in our institution - that we should create smoke around our building to give a sense of what we are talking about. I have vacated to another building, and I thank you for the invitation to join you.”
2005-05-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5187 (2005) · source
“The one thing that I am frustrated about is that I am unable to articulate to members the extent to which we are already engaged in the issues of framework for business, demobilization, dealings with low-income countries, ensuring investments of leading small- and medium-sized enterprise financing, advocating trade and working on the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Our institution is right in the middle of many of the individual issues that members have raised. Let me simply say that we welcome this additional opportunity to work with the United Nations system. If the Council does indeed follow the suggestion that the subject of today's discussions become a point of greater emphasis in the Council's deliberations, we stand ready to work with and support the Council in any way it would find useful.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“Mr. Wolfensohn: I think there is such a rich array of comments that, at this stage, to try to respond to all of them would not be a good idea. Let me say simply that I have been greatly impressed by the discussions this morning. In fact, as any members retire, they would be welcome on the Board of the World Bank, if they are looking for a different career, because it is clear that there is a significant community of interests between the work of this Council and the work of the Bank.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“It must be done within the framework of a legal system, governmental capacity, building transparent financial systems and fighting corruption - issues which were all mentioned at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development and by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). I salute you, Sir, for putting the subject on the Security Council agenda. We, at the Bank, are proud to be working with United Nations agencies in terms of this issue. It is a joy to consider the issues relating to conflict by looking at the question of the causes of conflict. The main cause of conflict is lack of hope, and hope can be created by establishing businesses and by creating jobs.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“They did not come to the Summit with goals relating to targets for military expenditure. They said: The targets are human. Let us get people to work, let us reduce poverty, let us bring about growth and let us give people an investment in hope and in their lives. Not surprisingly, what we do, before and after conflict, is to try and establish conditions in which business - both international and local investment - can flourish. For that reason, Sir, your choice of subject today is admirable. The solution is not simple. One does not just open the door for investment.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“In relation to conflict resolution and the building of peace, in all the cases I have mentioned there are examples where we, often in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other agencies, have, as the primary function concerning establishing peace, to get business going again within a legal and appropriate framework which protects human rights and is also environmentally sound. All of that is absolutely coherent and consistent with the Millennium Development Goals established in 2000 - which we, the Secretary-General and others are seeking to pursue - setting forth objectives of what we need to do in order to have a peaceful and appropriate world. All of the heads of Government came together at the Millennium Summit and affirmed the need to deal with the question of poverty.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“For that reason, I think this subject is really important in this body, because we are spending $900 billion on defence annually and we are spending $50 billion a year, or a little more, on development. I rather feel that if we spent $900 billion on development and on getting people to have jobs and to go into business, we probably would not need more than $50 billion for defence. This Council could then become an economic and social council and it might be a lot more pleasant and a lot less dramatic to be able to deal with hope, rather than with crises. That is why, Sir, I think you have chosen a very important subject today.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“This is what we are told they want by people in developing countries, and it is not surprising. In fact, the study was useful, but probably not necessary in terms of intuitive thinking. But we have done the work and proven in every way that we can that giving people hope is the best way to avoid conflict. Giving them an investment in their lives and a chance to think of their children and to give their children opportunity is the best way to stop them going out and creating conflict. So when one talks in the Security Council of the issue of the prevention of conflict, central to that is the very simple notion of giving people work and an opportunity.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“Their immediate instinct is not to go out and create a war, but they are subject to influences from the outside, from people who are malicious and who will either hide within their number or use them for unlawful and offensive purposes. Thus, in our institution, we are devoting a tremendous amount of time to trying to see how we can meet the needs of those 60,000 people and people like them. It is a very simple need: How do you give them an opportunity to work in an equitable environment? Here, one addresses a number of the questions that the Secretary-General referred to in terms of the legal framework which one can establish, the protection of rights, the campaign against corruption and establishing an opportunity for people to live in a stable environment.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“The answer was that poor people, like rich people, want to live in peace and to have their community. They do not want charity - they want an opportunity. They want for their women not to be beaten up and, for their children, they want hope. In the world today, where 2.8 billion people out of 6 billion are under the age of 25 and where 1.5 billion are under the age of 15 - and in the next 25 years 2 billion more will be entering our planet in the developing world - the crucial challenge, as again has been identified by the Secretary-General, is how we are going to find opportunity for our youth to work. If they do not have work, they are frustrated.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“However, four times the amount of international investment is done domestically and so, when one talks of business, one really needs to think in terms of creating an environment locally in which local investment can be encouraged so that small and medium-size enterprise and entrepreneurship can in fact flourish. A lot of this was addressed in the recent study that was done by Paul Martin and Ernesto Zedillo in response to a request from the Secretary-General. So the proposition which we basically believe is that, in dealing with the first question of conflict prevention, the first thing one needs is to have a growing economy in which people share. Again, we did a study of 60,000 poor people in 60 countries and we came up, again, with an answer that one might have concluded intuitively.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“Just in terms of my own experience since I have been at the Bank - whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan, the West Bank, Gaza, Yemen, East Timor, Kosovo or Bosnia and Herzegovina - I have found that, in all these places where there has been tension, and in many cases conflict, we have gone in, and the very first thing that one needs to look at after some peace has been restored and after one has addressed fundamental social issues of education, health and infrastructure is the question of how one establishes a framework in which business can commence. Let me say here that we give a lot of attention to international investment. I am particularly proud that Mr. Von Pierer is here at this meeting because of the work that his company has done globally.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“This is not a very complex concept, but I am happy to say that we have done studies to prove that rather obvious point, and I can quote the studies done by our colleagues in the institution, which clearly state that "our research suggests that the lack of economic opportunity and resulting competition for scarce resources, more than ethnic, political and ideological issues, lie at the root of most conflicts over the last 30 years".”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“The reason that I am so pleased to be here is that we feel, in our institution, that the issue of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and rebuilding - which is the subject of the discussion today - can best be looked at from the point of view of the causes of conflict and the methodologies of peace, some of which the Secretary-General has referred to. Basically, we have a fairly intuitive and not very complicated notion that, if someone has a job and hope, he or she is much less likely to go out and shoot people.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“Mr. Wolfensohn: Let me say how grateful I am to you, Sir, for this invitation, which is the second in history to a President of the World Bank to attend a meeting of the Security Council, the first having been extended four years ago when we came together to discuss the impact of AIDS as a security issue. Important as that issue was and is, let me say immediately that I am delighted that the Security Council should be addressing this question at a time when the words of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict interventions and resolutions in terms of the political side are uppermost in the minds of people.”
2004-04-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4943 (2004) · source
“I tell you this: poverty and development are the root cause of most of the conflicts, and it is essential for this body to take action in anticipation of a world that, without such action, will be a world in conflict. I look forward to working with the Council in the months and years ahead on this issue of AIDS in Africa and on the general issue of poverty and development.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“It is also an issue that affects the peace and security of people in the continent of Africa and throughout the world. It is certainly a subject that merits consideration by this body. The world looks to the Security Council to highlight important issues and looks to the United Nations to give leadership. In order to solve these global problems, we need to bring together not just the United Nations, but also the private sector, civil society, the faiths, organizations such as ours and regional institutions. The focus on the priorities can be given by this body. I am honoured to be here, but in coming I want to assure you, Mr. President, that we look forward to a partnership with the United Nations and recognition by this Council. Your successors, who will be dealing with issues of security, are going to be looking at the causes.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“Just imagine that in Zambia and Zimbabwe there is a greater chance that a child born today will die of AIDS than will live free of it. These are stunning statistics. The fact that a third of teenage girls in many African countries are subject to the scourge of AIDS is not something that can lead to a sense of security in a community. In a number of countries, we are losing teachers faster than we can replace them. We are losing judges, lawyers, government officials and military personnel. This problem is more effective than war itself in terms of destabilizing countries. Unless we act, this will continue, and there will surely be continued instability in the continent. AIDS is not just a health issue. AIDS is not just a development issue.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“These are considerations that this Council has before it. If, therefore, Africa is at the centre of the agenda, which indeed it is this month - and I congratulate Ambassador Holbrooke on this initiative - then surely the question of AIDS comes to the top of the list as an issue which can affect security, development and poverty. What we are seeing is that in today's world we are rolling back some of the gains that have been made in Africa over the last 40 years. The numbers are very compelling. Under African leadership, we gained more than 20 years in life expectancy. In many countries this gain will be lost by the year 2010. The statistics have already been provided by previous speakers. But just imagine that in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, 25 per cent of the people between 15 and 19 years of age are HIV-positive.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“Without being a social scientist or an Ambassador, I know that if people are well fed, have opportunity, are well-governed and have a sense of security for their children, they are less likely to fight and get into problems than if they live in a period where they have no governance, where the sinews of governance do not give them security and where there is little hope. We are worried about the next 25 years, and I would suggest that this is a subject directly relevant to the deliberations of this Council. If it is true that poverty eradication and development are the counterpart of security, then nowhere is this more important than in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa we have 500 million people, of whom more than half live in poverty. It is there, as the Secretary-General commented, the greater part of conflict and wars exist today.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“The funny thing is that in Washington we think that what we do every day in terms of addressing the questions of development are actions which lead to the very same issue of security and peace. We work every day looking at the conditions of our planet and think in terms of the 6 billion people who now inhabit our globe, of the 3 billion people who live on less than $2 per day, of the 1.2 billion that live on less than $1 per day, and we think of the next 25 years, when that 6 billion will grow to 8 billion. We wonder what sort of a world it will be.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“I am also very grateful to Secretary-General Arman for the leadership that he showed in bringing the World Bank more closely in parallel and in partnership with other institutions of the United Nations, and I am very happy to be here with my colleagues from my the United Nations Development Programme and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). I do not know a lot about the workings of the Security Council. I have images of you ladies and gentlemen meeting at midnight, having very important meetings, using high diplomacy and power politics to solve very important and pressing issues that face us: issues of conflict, issues of chemical weapons, issues of nuclear challenges and issues of security.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source
“Mr. Wolfensohn: Let me start, Vice-President Gore, by thanking you for your invitation to attend this meeting. I believe it is the first time that a President of the World Bank has ever attended a meeting of this body. It was a dream that I did not think would be realized in my period as President, so I am grateful for that, as I am, indeed, for your putting on the agenda the issue of health and the issue of development, in which you have been so steadfast in your support of our institution.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087 (2000) · source