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Interviewer:
Interview conducted by Patricia Blair, on 1983-10-04
Summary of transcript:
William Clark joined the Bank through a joint Woods/McNamara appointment as Director of Information and Public Affairs, then became Director and Vice President, External Affairs. During his tenure he was connected to two major international commissions: the Pearson Commission (1968-69), and the Brandt Commission (1978). Prior to that, Clark, a British national, was Director of the Overseas Development Institute in London and in that capacity organized in [April] 1967 a gathering to revive interest in aid development. Clark discusses the meeting which included then President Woods, Sir E. Boyle, Barbara Ward, as well as other like-minded people; the agreement to conduct something similar to the Franks Commission out of which grew the OECD; and Woods' speech to the Swedish Bankers Association presenting the proposal as a "Grand Assize" on development. Clark talks of the initial decision to have Lord Franks run the Grand Assize, his unavailability made known under McNamara, and the choice of Lester Pearson, former Prime Minister of Canada, as chairman.
Clark elaborates on the set up of the Commission and the individuals hired, including Ernest Stern from USAID, one or two persons seconded from the World Bank, and McNamara's agreement to finance it with minimum interference. He discusses the release of the Pearson Report during the '69 Annual Meeting, its recommendations, the reaction within the Bank, its impact on the US Congress and abroad, especially in India, and its effect on IDA replenishment.
Clark talks about the global economic background prompting a new attempt referred to in Bank notes as Pearson II, McNamara's speech at the '76 annual Meeting in Manila recommending the Bank set up a commission to study Global Compact headed by someone of the stature of Willy Brandt (ex-Chancellor of Germany). In reflecting on McNamara's presidency, Clark opines: ". the years up to 1973 and the Nairobi speech were all forward for McNamara. The years after the Nairobi speech and the official proclamation, as it were, of the rural development/poverty-oriented program were almost all backwards."
Clark discusses Willy Brandt's conditions for accepting the chairmanship, the difficulties encountered in obtaining endorsement from the Third World in the context of the New International Economic Order (NIEO) agenda. He elaborates on some of the members hired, the first meeting in December'77 in Germany and Brandt's speech emphasizing the idea of mutual benefit as one of the key factors in looking at North-South relations, and the Bank's efforts in raising finances for the Commission.
Clarke discusses the report and its impact, the timing of its release (1980) and publication (1981), the reaction to the report, and McNamara's disappointment. The role of the United Nations and that of the Bank in looking at North-South relations. According to Clark, both the Pearson and Brandt Commissions contributed to a forward motion onthe part of the Bank and, his realization, albeit belatedly, that the Pearson Commission and the immediate post-Pearson events were the beginning of a lot of McNamara's poverty-oriented thinking.
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