{"id":14572,"date":"2012-09-13T04:16:16","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T02:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/09\/optimism-is-the-antidote-says-new-world-bank-chief\/"},"modified":"2012-09-13T04:16:16","modified_gmt":"2012-09-13T02:16:16","slug":"optimism-is-the-antidote-says-new-world-bank-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/optimism-is-the-antidote-says-new-world-bank-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimism is the antidote, says new World Bank chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

By Lesley Wroughton<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Sept 12<\/span> (Reuters) – Whether treating
\npatients with drug-resistant diseases in the slums of Haiti or
\ntrying to reverse the hopelessness of the world’s poor, optimism
\nis essential, insists World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“For me optimism is a moral choice,” Kim told Reuters on his
\nfirst trip to Africa, two months into the job as president of
\nthe global development lender.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“If you are a person who is privileged, has resources, and
\nyou go into a situation where you are working with people who
\nare very poor, if you are cynical and pessimistic and negative,
\nthat is absolutely deadly for poor people,” said the
\nHarvard-trained physician and anthropologist.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

It is too early to tell whether a different style will help
\nKim strengthen the World Bank’s effectiveness at a time the rise
\nof emerging powers is forcing it to rethink its role, but it
\nmarks a big change.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The hands-on doctor’s touch, development experience and
\nsocial advocacy seem to have helped Kim build relationships on
\nhis trip to Ivory Coast and South Africa.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim’s predecessor Robert Zoellick was a respected voice in
\ninternational finance and diplomacy who loved history and
\nscrupulously avoided ceremonial dinners when traveling abroad.
\nPaul Wolfowitz, a neo-conservative who helped push the United
\nStates into war in Iraq, was saddled from the beginning by his
\npast.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Like them, Kim intends to focus on organizational reforms
\nand new ideas to improve an institution often derided for bloat
\nand promoting the interests of the developed world.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

But with years of work in the trenches, fighting
\ntuberculosis in the prisons of Siberia and the slums of Haiti
\nand Peru, as well as developing HIV programs in Lesotho and
\nRwanda, the 52-year-old brings a new perspective.
\n\u00a0 Continued…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lesley Wroughton ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Whether treating patients with drug-resistant diseases in the slums of Haiti or trying to reverse the hopelessness of the world’s poor, optimism is essential, insists World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. “For me optimism is a moral choice,” Kim told Reuters on his first trip […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-14572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}