More than 15,000 delegates have come for three days of talks, seminars and workshops. In his opening address, Wolfensohn called on the international community to put equity and participation at the heart of development. Wolfensohn called on high income countries to increase their development aid, provide deeper debt relief, and dismantle trade barriers to poor countries. Our estimates indicate that the annual costs of all trade barriers by industrial countries are more than double total development assistance. Wolfensohn argued that participation by the poor must be at the center of the search for equity.
Participation delivers powerful results at the project and program level.
And it can create the social consensus that is the foundation for social change and reform. It is part of freedom. If we are serious about fighting inequity, we must also help poor people build their assets, including education health and land. We must confront deep seated inequalities, bridging gender, ethnic, social and racial divides. We must protect people from crop failures and natural disasters, from crime and conflict, from sickness and unemployment.