SECRETARY-GENERAL, MEETING WORLD BANK DIRECTORS, URGES POOLING OF RESOURCES

Press Release
SG/SM/7186

SECRETARY-GENERAL, MEETING WORLD BANK DIRECTORS, URGES POOLING OF RESOURCES

This is the text of remarks made today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the World Bank Board of Directors in Washington, D.C.:

Thank you for this very warm welcome. Let me stress how truly pleased I am to be here with you, the Board of Directors; to meet with the staff later today; and to explore with all of you how we can cooperate even more closely than we have in recent years.

The world around us continues to change with startling speed. Institutions, such as ours, must adapt or step aside. That is why the United Nations continues along the path of fundamental reform; it is why we are forming new partnerships with civil society and the private sector; it is why we are bringing new thinking to our work for development; and it is why we are trying to find new ways to ensure that people suffering from war and oppression can find international help when and where they need it.

On the eve of a new chapter in human history, our agenda brims with unmet needs and unresolved questions. Globalization knits us together even as violence, poverty and environmental degradation tear apart the human community and natural environment.

I very much look forward to hearing your views on what more we can do to answer these and other urgent challenges. The policies of the United Nations and the World Bank are more complementary than ever before. Our country-level cooperation is improving. That is progress to build on. The success of our partnership can mean a great deal to a great many people. We have a responsibility to make it work. Let us pool our resources; let us pull together; and let us do so without delay. Thank you very much.

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