Shaha Riza - World Bank Controversy

World Bank Controversy

Riza's did not report to the World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz while at the World Bank. Riza was romantically linked to Wolfowitz prior to his World Bank involvement, when he was Deputy Secretary of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld in the Bush Administration. In 2005 Wolfowitz offered to sign a statement to isolate himself from her which only served to draw scrutiny to what grew into a perceived conflict of interest. The World Bank ethics committee rejected Wolfowitz's proposal.

Subsequently, Paul Wolfowitz was alleged to have involved himself in Riza's career by personally increasing her pay. This is a potential impropriety. Instead, Riza was asked to leave the World Bank altogether. She even forgoes a promotion for which she was highly recommended. By 2007 the Board of the World Bank accepted that Paul Wolfowitz acted ethically. Still by June of that year Wolfowitz resigns.

In retrospect, staffing policy was to the contrary. Rule 4.01, paragraph 5.2, states that spouses and registered domestic partners are barred from working in situations where "one supervises the other directly or indirectly", but informal relationships fall under rule 3.01, paragraph 4.02, which states that in such cases as Wolfowitz and Riza's relationship the supervisor "shall be responsible for seeking a resolution of the conflict of interest."

In 2007 Riza releases an internal statement which she had submitted as part of a defense to her employers to The Wall Street Journal as follows::

1. My professional status at the Bank predates the arrival of the new President. I began work in the Bank in 1997.
2. There is no Bank regulation or staff rule that required me to leave the Bank in order to resolve this situation.
3. I was not given a choice to stay and, against my personal preference and professional interests, I agreed to accept an external assignment in 2005 upon the insistence of the Ethics Committee.
4. Against Bank rules and the Agreement I signed with the Bank, the details of the assignment and my personnel file have been leaked to the press and staff. As you well know my salary and grade level are quite common for World Bank staff that have years of experience, background and education similar to mine.
5. The cumulative effect of the decision made in 2005 and the recent media circus over the issue have done significant harm to my career, my personal well-being, and my prospects to continue the work I love and where my expertise resides.

—Shaha Riza, Statement to World Bank ethics committee