WASHINGTON, Apr 12 (IPS) - Despite denials by World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz Thursday, newly disclosed internal documents indicate that the Bank may have in fact reversed a longstanding policy of promoting family planning on his watch.
The same day, when asked by U.S. National Public Radio at a press conference opening the spring meetings of the World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, whether the Bank has changed its policy on family planning, Wolfowitz denied there had been any changes.
"Absolutely not," he said. "I have seen rumours about that. Let me make it very clear. Our policy hasn't changed."
But according to an internal email made public by the Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based whistleblower protection organisation, Managing Director (MD) Juan José Daboub, an appointee of Wolfowitz and a man known for his conservative stance on family issues, had in fact instructed a team of Bank specialists to delete all references to family planning from the proposed Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for the African nation of Madagascar.
CAS's are long-term plans that lay out World Bank lending priorities for a specific country.
Wolfowitz hired Daboub in April 2006. He is the former finance minister of El Salvador and a member of that country's right-wing ARENA party, closely identified with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, which, in contrast to the more progressive pastoral clergy in Central America, opposes contraception and equal rights for women.
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