2005 Lyceum Speaker Series: Integrity

October 26, 2005
World Bank Hopes Loans Finance Prosperity, Not More Corruption
by Kate McCann

Imagine working for an organization that has the primary objective of reducing the number of people who subsist on $1 a day by 50 percent.

As senior manager of Trust Fund Quality Assurance and Compliance at the World Bank, Paul Cadario explained the issues he faces every day in partnering with developing nations such as Africa, China and India to bring more prosperity into these countries.

And the question of integrity gets blurrier when mixed with an increasingly complex world market.  In the past year, for example, the World Bank has provided funding to Chad and Bangladesh, the top two countries on Transparency International's government corruption list.

During his talk for the Oct. 19 Lyceum Speaker Series, Cadario told students that the World Bank acts as a “big credit union,” with the mission of eliminating poverty in the world. The bank offers not only loans and funds for development projects in its 184 member countries, but also professional support from economic planners and engineers to make sure the projects will have the desired benefit. “We provide money and give advice that leads to change,” he said.

But such good intentions aren’t always enough. Complicated international relationships frequently test the World Bank’s integrity and ethics. For example, one of its greatest challenges is deciding how—or whether—to give millions of dollars to countries that may not spend the money correctly.

“Since the countries are our owners, they are in the driver’s seat,” Cadario said. “Countries make decisions and mistakes. The days are long gone when we could tell them, ‘that might not be the right thing to do.’”

And the question of integrity gets blurrier when mixed with an increasingly complex world market. In the past year, for example, the World Bank has provided funding to Chad and Bangladesh—the top two countries on the government corruption list.

“Integrity is quite important because we’re dealing with big issues and many stakeholders,” he said.

You have to trust your colleagues and bosses, but it takes only one or two cases to erode the trust the public has in your organization, he added.

While World Bank decision makers are scrutinized for putting money into known exploiters such as Chad and Bangladesh, Cadario defended their choices. Without the World Bank’s financial backing, he said, girls in these countries wouldn’t be able to attend schools, and important dams and roads would remain un-built. The challenge is fighting corruption and supporting people for the good of society.