The World Bank should put money into civil society in Arab countries after a wave of political unrest showed the limits of their economic development, said Robert Zoellick, the president.
“Now it may be time to invest in the private, not-for-profit sector – civil society – to help strengthen the capacity of organisations working on transparency, accountability and service delivery,” Mr Zoellick said in a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
Drawing a comparison with the way the bank used to ignore corruption in developing countries in which it invested, Mr Zoellick said stronger civil societies would act as a check on governments and lead to better economic results.