Por - Publicado el 26-04-2007

Leemos en el New York Suan(Pase de taquito de NQ):

Nepotism, Wolfowitz & the U.N.

Turtle Bay
BY BENNY AVNI
April 23, 2007

…

Mr. Wolfowitz could be forced to resign as head of the World Bank, as his
role in facilitating a pay raise for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, appears
to have undermined his campaign to end international welfare as we know
it.

The story seemed simple. He preached against giving money to corrupt
tin-pot dictators who use funds meant for the poor to enrich themselves
and their cronies. How credible can that campaign be if you help your
girlfriend to a sizable raise? I’m shocked, shocked to hear there is
nepotism at the World Bank.

…

Initially, Mr. Wolfowitz attempted to avoid any such violations. «In order
to avoid any conflict of interest, real or apparent, and consistent with
Staff Rule 4.01, I recuse myself from any personnel decisions or actions
with respect to Ms. Shaha Riza,» he wrote to the board of the bank’s
ethics committee in 2005. But the committee, headed by Ad Melkert of the
Netherlands, advised him to take charge of his girlfriend’s case.

Mr. Melkert has since moved on to the UNDP, an agency that habitually
hires office employees recommended by local governments. In many cases,
the United Nations ends up being represented locally by friends and family
of the country’s dictator.

(…)

However, the case of Mr.
Annan and his son, Kojo, is fundamentally different from that of Mr. Ban
and his daughter and son-in-law and that of Mr. Wolfowitz and Ms. Riza in
at least one crucial aspect.

Like Ms. Riza, who served at the World Bank before her boyfriend became its president, Ms. Ban and her husband worked for UNICEF before Mr. Ban became secretary-general. Unlike Kojo Annan, who stood to benefit from his
father’s status, Ms. Riza and the Chatterjee family stood to lose out as
their relatives became head of the institutions they worked for.

To avoid such a loss, Ms. Riza received compensation when she was forced to move out of the World Bank, where she was overdue for a promotion. She then became a target of members of the so-called international community and of an industry that has not been all that aghast at nepotism in the
past.

Mr. Wolfowitz exposed himself to allegations of hypocrisy when he put
fighting corruption at the top of his agenda — in an institution that had
previously been too eager to dole out funds, regardless of how recipients
used them. The lesson is clear: At international institutions, you fight
corruption at your own peril.

April 23, 2007 Edition

Comentario: Un par de cosas:

  1. El nepotimo y el favoritismo es usual en las multilaterales. Al parecer se la han tomado con Wolfowitz por su anuncio de luchar contra la corrupción. Tiene morbillo darle por ahí. Además, fue uno de los halcones que impulsó la guerra de Iraq.
  2. Las denuncias sobre Shaha Riza han sido muy directas: corrupción en el Banco Mundial. Se ha llegado incluso a decir que fue el Pentágono el que pidió la contratación de Riza en 2003.
  3. No es que Wolfowitz puso a su novia a trabajar en el Banco Mundial cual congresista peruana pone a su empleada doméstica de asesora en el congreso. Pues no:

    – Shaha Riza, la novia de Wolfofwitz, ya trabajaba en el Banco Mundial.
    – Cuando Wolfowitz entra, precisamente por política anti-nepotismo de la institución, a ella le paran un ascenso.
    – Para compensarla por este bloqueo en su carrera, le dan un aumento de sueldo, como parte de un acuerdo que la misma Shaha Riza no acababa de aprobar (ver aquí).
    – Se arma una gran denuncia de corrupción en en Banco Mundial. Wolfowitz habría usado su influencia para contratar a su novia a un salario altísimo.

  4. Ayer el Parlamento Europeo ha pedido la dimisión de Wolfowitz del Banco Mundial. Esta no es una institución precisamente muy querida en Europa. Un eurodiputado no es precisamente un estándar de moralidad y conducta libre de favoritismos y nepotismos…

Tocará estar muy al tanto del favoritismo y nepotismo en estas instituciones. No nos quedemos en Wolfowitz y su novia. Miremos a todos y a todas.

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  1. Hipolita dijo:
    08-05-2007 16:09

    De un nuevo artículo hoy en el New York Sun:

    «Detractors said Mr. Wolfowitz presided over an exodus of experienced World Bank managers while relying on a coterie of advisors recruited from the Bush administration with scant experience in economic development.»

    Me suena que a los del Banco Mundial esta sustitución les sentó muy mal. No creo que sea independiente del tema que, aparentemente, están denunciando.

    Verlo todo en:
    http://www.nysun.com/article/54000?page_no=1