Zoellick, Panel of Experts Debate the Changing Role of Multilateral Institutions

The final session of the 2012 InterAction Forum started with a conversation with World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who discussed recent shifts at the Bank and how the institution must change to remain relevant going forward. Reflecting on his legacy, he highlighted the Bank’s recent focus on civil society as a critical actor in the development process, suggesting that the Bank should see itself as one part of a larger ecosystem of development actors. He placed large emphasis on the need for local ownership of development projects and highlighted the Bank’s significant increases in transparency and data sharing during his tenure as president.

A diverse panel of experts then took the stage, consisting of Nemat Shafik, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF; Stewart Patrick, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA; and Geoff Lamb, President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Pape Gaye, CEO of IntraHealth International, moderated the panel’s discussion of the current and future role of multilateral institutions in a globalizing world.

Shafik began the conversation by highlighting the “renaissance of reforms” at the IMF since the global financial crisis, while Patrick noted that there was no one actor leading global institutional reforms.  Nossel stressed the critical role of multilateral institutions in protecting human rights, and Lamb argued that there had been significant progress in the major global institutions’ ability to adapt and incorporate outside input.  The panel agreed there was a substantial role for international NGOs, highlighting civil society’s critical advocacy role influencing both the institutions and the participation of their member countries.

Contributed by Will Merrow