THERE IS NO WALL: COMMENTARY. A Washington Post (A20) editorial entitled, "There is No Wall," says that World Bank President James Wolfensohn recently proposed a metaphor that deserves to endure. For too long, he said, an imaginary wall has separated the rich world from the poor, allowing us to view as normal a situation in which one-fifth of humanity takes home four-fifths of global income. Comfortable behind this wall, the prosperous north has presumed it would feel no consequences from the extreme poverty of the rest -- from the fact that more than a billion people lack drinkable water or that women are dying in childbirth at the rate of one a minute. But then, on Sept. 11, the imaginary wall came crashing down. We find that there are not two worlds, just one.
And so what should be done? Trade barriers that prevent the poor from exporting their way to a better life should be torn down, and development assistance should be doubled. The best studies of aid show that it really does dent poverty, at least in countries that have honest and determined governments. The Bush administration has taken a good step by offering to increase its contributions to the World Bank's concessional-lending arm, but this is only a start. Endorsing Wolfensohn's appeal for a doubling in aid is the way to follow up, and it would cost only one-fifth of 1 percent of the income of rich countries, says the Post. Remember, there is no wall. There is only one world. It is time that policies adapted, concludes the piece.
Meanwhile, reporting on their interviews with Wolfensohn, the Mexican newspapers Reforma and El Norte write that he says we are living a new era where we need to understand what are our role is in making globalization work for everyone, if we fail to do this, there is a great risk that violence and instability will prevail in the coming decades.
Wolfensohn said that the Financing for Development Conference in Monterrey is important because it will provide an opportunity for all countries to come together and look at what needs to be done in order to reach the Millennium Development Goals. The success of Monterrey, he explained, must be measured as part of a wider process, one that has been accelerated by the events of September 11th and which has at its core the fight against poverty.
Wolfensohn explained that poverty is many things: it is being alone; it's having no hope, no protection, no voice and no opportunities. For many women, it is the fear of being abused, it is not knowing whether to trust the police or the criminals, it is insecurity, it is the anguish of not knowing whether your children will have a future, it is not having a home and, of course, it is not having money. He said that as human beings, we must act so that people cannot continue to live in these conditions, otherwise, the imbalance in the world will continue and we will create the conditions for violence and crime. This is not something that can be let to future generations. We need to act now so that we have at least a real possibility of peace and stability in the next 20 years, he added.