Wolfowitz stays tight-lipped on partner scandal

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz remained tight-lipped today as he faced growing demands for him to resign.

With the furore surrounding his alleged favouritism in engineering a generous pay package for his girlfriend, Wolfowitz said he wanted to “stay focused” on his job.

Speaking in Brussels, he insisted he did not want to add to a statement he gave to a special board meeting of the bank on Monday at which he said he had acted in good faith.

Wolfowitz was asked at a packed news conference if he had any regrets about his decision to award a substantial pay rise to his companion Shaha Riza, who was working at the bank when he was appointed president in 2005.

“The board is considering the issue and I have given the bank a full explanation. We need to follow the process and stay focused on the very important work of the bank," he said.

Wolfowitz, who was in Brussels to attend a top-level education conference, added: “One of our big jobs is to ensure that countries, including the US, keep the promises they have made on debt relief.”

Wolfowitz was among the keynote speakers at the conference at the European commission, convened in order to accelerate progress towards the education millennium development goals that all children complete primary education by 2015.

He urged the US and other rich countries to honour funding promises for a plan to help all the world's young children attend school.

He said they needed to meet pledges to fund a UN programme that aims to ensure all children attend primary school by 2015.

Some progress had been made, he said, but much more was still needed to help the estimated 77 million children worldwide who do not have access to basic education.

“This is more than the population of the UK, France and Italy and represents a whole generation which will be lost,” said Wolfowitz.

“There has been some progress in this area but our work will not be complete until each of these 77m children reach the classroom.

“That is why the world bank is fully  committed to the theme of today’s event – delivering more and faster long-term aid for education.”

Wolfowitz said the issue reminded him of his grandfather who he said had arrived in the US with little or no  formal education.

“My father, by contrast, benefited from a free education in America which, in later life, gave me the sort of opportunities my grandfather could only dream of,” he said.

Other participants at the event, the first donor conference on education in five years, included development commissioner Louis Michel.

He said the commission remained committed to increasing funds for education.

“All children of our planet have the right to a basic education. With sufficient resources we can fulfil our promises to provide this education for nearly 77 million in 75 countries who do not have access to education,” he said.

“This conference is an opportunity to put our promises into action.”

Meanwhile, the Global Campaign for Education issued a report today which criticises the world's richest countries for failing to fund basic education in the poor world.

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