Press Conference With World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz at the Conclusion of a Meeting of Women’s Groups

Jubilee Hall, Hyderabad, India
August 18, 2005

Mr. Wolfowitz: Thank you. We’ve just seen something really remarkable and remarkable in many ways.

The idea of these poor women able to speak in such an articulate way in front of a large crowd is something that is really phenomenal and I’m not sure if people here fully appreciate it. I do as someone who taught university students for many years and I know what a special skill that is to be able to express yourself in public.

I think one of the reasons they’re so good at it is because these are the chosen leaders of a group that – if I understand correctly – includes some eight million women in the state of Andhra Pradesh. And that’s another thing that’s remarkable is the sheer scale on which this is being done.

I must say when I visited the first little house in a small village this morning, I was very impressed with what I observed from this small family but the first thing that went through my mind was: “Well, maybe this is a pilot project, maybe this is one family they picked out that’s one of the best families.” But as we went through the course of the day to larger and larger and groups and then finally to this group here, I realized that what we saw in that one family in that small village is actually being reproduced all over the state of Andhra Pradesh which, if I have the numbers right, is as big as most countries in Europe.

It’s an incredible achievement and again one of the things that’s very remarkable is that it goes beyond just the material success of the program. I’ve visited some similar programs. as I said to these women, the first one I saw was in Indonesia 20 years ago, I’ve seen some in Africa, I’ve seen some in Bosnia where it’s been demonstrated that if you lend poor people small amounts of money, they are remarkably good at paying back those loans and they make incredibly good use of them and that’s happened in this program.

But something else even more remarkable seems to have happened, which is that these women have learned by helping one another how to give voice to their concerns that go far beyond material concerns and that they have been able to defend their rights as women, to defend their rights as underprivileged classes in society in a way that probably couldn’t have been imagined when this program started 10 years ago.

I feel very very deeply that women have to be included in the development process for the development process to be successful. What I’ve seen here in Andhra Pradesh today is the most vivid demonstration in my travels around the world of how powerful women can be as a force when they are given the opportunity and it is a really remarkable achievement.

As I mentioned to them, the World Bank is participating in this program and the amount of $260 million through the period to 2008. It sounds like a lot of money and it is a lot of money but for a program this big it’s still only part of the contribution and the state of Andhra Pradesh makes the biggest contribution. But speaking as the President of the World Bank, I can say that we are extremely proud to be able to assist in something that is such a wonderful success, as this program is, and one of the things I hope to learn in the coming weeks and months is; is there a way to take this experience, this very successful experience in your state and develop it not only in other states in India but in other countries in the world because it seems to me that these women really have something to teach all of us.

Thank you, I can take a few questions. I’d like to stay on this subject because I’ll be meeting the press in New Delhi on a whole range of questions, but the real topic today for me in this incredible self-help program.

Reporter: (Inaudible)

Mr. Wolfowitz: We have a very broad program in India and rural development is one of our focuses. I don’t have a specific plan. I know our staff is talking with the government here and with the government in Delhi about a range of programs and I believe it is an area that the World Bank can contribute to a lot but I don’t have a specific plan.

Reporter: About your agenda in India as a whole, what are you going to do in Delhi?

Mr. Wolfowitz: Well, first of all I’m here to learn about India. India would be important just because it’s such a big country but it’s even more important because it is a country that is making some remarkable progress economically in general, and in reducing poverty in particular. Poverty reduction is the mission of the World Bank so I’m here to learn how the Indian government and the people of India have succeeded in that effort but also to learn how we might be helpful with India in the future in making sure that the poorest people of this country are helped and that poverty continues to be reduced here.

Somebody over here? Okay, we’ll go this side. Yes sir?

Reporter: Is there a request from the donor community to enhance the loans from the World Bank?

Mr. Wolfowitz: In this program alone we are contributing a great deal. As I said, it will be $260 million by the end of 2008 and I’ll be meeting with the Chief Minister tonight and we may talk about other specific things but today really for me was a learning experience that we can take to other countries in the world.

One of the great advantages that the World Bank can bring is that because we operate all over the world, when we see a successful experience like the one here in Andhra Pradesh, we may be able to tell people in South America or people in East Asia about the model that works and maybe take some of the lessons learned from here and take them to another place. So it’s been a great learning experience today.

Yes sir?

Reporter: Everywhere the World Bank goes, there are protests by leftist groups, how do you see it?

Mr. Wolfowitz: I think there’s nowhere in the world you can go if you’re doing something that somebody won’t criticize it. I don’t know how anyone could criticize the program we’ve just seen today and I doubt that anyone would and I guess that one of the things that I enjoy working at the World Bank is that no-one argues about the mission, the mission is how to reduce poverty and there have been some amazing successes in the last 20 years around the world, including here in India, in reducing poverty and I think there will always be some argument about what’s the best policy but what we’ve seen today is something that works and we’re looking for things that work and when they work we’d like to expand them, build on them, and take that knowledge to other countries.

I think we have time for just one more question. You’ve asked already. The man in back, okay? Wait for the microphone.

Reporter: (Unclear)

Mr. Wolfowitz: If I understood the question correctly, one part of the question is about sustainability and quite obviously you want to invest in things that build capacity so that in the long run they can become self-sustaining and my impression is that one of the quite amazing things about the women we just spoke with is they’ve demonstrated ability now to borrow on their own and to do things on their own and that is terrific. The other part of your question was about conditionality and I think it’s a reason why the other question came up.

Look, the World Bank is not around to tell countries how to do their business. We are around to try to give them resources for things that we think are successful. I think you’d have to agree that if we think a particular kind of project isn’t going to be successful, then we’re not going to give money to it but that’s not imposing conditions. We’re trying as much as possible to find things that work and not to come in with our own ideas about what works, so that we have some ideas, but also to listen to the country as to what works.

The project we just witnessed, if I understand correctly, it was generated here in India, I think here in Andhra Pradesh. It had begun already with a little bit of money from the UNDP as part of a pilot project. We came and met with people here and realized that this was something that could be grown into something bigger and we put our resources – not just money, we have very dedicated people and expertise – to make this…if I can use a…it was like a small plant that was planted by the UN Development Programme and we said here is a small plant that with some water and some fertilizer can grow into the incredible lush garden that we just saw out there. That’s what we try to do, it’s not about imposing conditions on people, it is about trying to invest in things that work and not invest in things that are going to be harmful.

Thank you very much.