Aid Agency Backs World Bank's Stand on Corruption

An Irish aid agency has joined forces with World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz against corruption in the developing world.

Goal, which has been working in Africa for 29 years, has become the first non-governmental organisation in Europe to support Wolfowitz's suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid and debt relief to governments in Africa and the Far East accused of stealing or squandering the money.

John O'Shea, Goal's director, said Wolfowitz's policy made sense in the face of widespread state corruption in developing countries. However, Goal's stance is in opposition to other agencies, such as Oxfam and Christian Aid, as well as UK International Development Minister Hilary Benn. They oppose the reforms, claiming they will punish the poor rather than the regimes accused of pocketing the aid for themselves.

O'Shea said: 'What Wolfowitz is saying is, "Put the attention and the put the blame where it should be. It's on those criminals and gangsters who rob their own people in Africa and elsewhere." 'I don't really care whether it's Wolfowitz, Bono or Jesus Christ calling for a suspension of aid to these corrupt regimes. It is absolutely right to stop money going into their hands because it will only be squandered and stolen.

'The problem regarding these gangsters is that they are shielded by political correctness, which dictates that aid can only flow into a country through its national government. That is nonsense. There are other ways to get aid into a country without colluding with criminal regimes.'