Wolfowitz says World Bank Planning 1,4 Billion US dollar in DR Congo Projects Over 3 Years
KINSHASA, 10 March: World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and EU commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Jean-Louis Michel have called on the international community to move with speed in supporting the peace-building and reconstruction efforts of the new government in DR Congo.
Speaking in the capital Kinshasa, the leaders reiterated the critical importance of translating the dividends of peace into concrete changes in the lives of the Congolese people.
– We need to move fast, much faster than we normally do in long-term development programs. The people of this country have suffered too much; they need to see the results of peace. They need to see it in six months, not in six years, Wolfowitz said.
Wolfowitz said the World Banks board had approved new procedures in order to be able to respond much more rapidly than in the past to countries in emergency situations.
He said the first grant under these procedures would be one this month for 180 million US dollar to build roads and provide water in Kinshasa, creating jobs in the process.
This is part of what could be as much as 380 million dollar in grants to the DR Congo this year from the World Bank.
– We are already beginning to plan projects for 2008 and our overall horizon would be 1,4 billion dollar over the next three years, the World Bank president said.
Mr. Wolfowitz said the presence of the World Bank and the EU in the DR Congo at this critical period in their history was both “practical and symbolic” and was meant to help rally the international community to help the congolese people.
The two leaders held a meeting in Kinshasa that brought together the countrys 15 main development partners where they underscored the need of coordinating assistance and moving with speed.
The joint visit comes at a significant moment in the history of DR Congo with the first democratically elected president in 40 years after many years of war.
Wolfowitz said he visited Kisangani before coming to Kinshasa and met with a wide range of people including ex-combatants – starting a new life of demobilization and reintegration – business leaders, and women activists.
He said that the new government recognizes that improving governance and fighting corruption was the foundation of all the other things that need to be done in the country.
He called for countries to help the DR Congo strengthen its institutions of governance, saying the process would take time as “it took many years to bring the country to this point.”
– Nothing will be done if people say the problem is impossible to fix, he said, adding: – I believe that taking things a step at a time, it is possible over time to make a big difference in the levels of corruption in a country.
The leaders reiterated the critical importance of translating the dividends of peace into concrete changes in the lives of the Congolese people.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
