4.The heads of the BWIs should be selected through a transparent processthat involves all member countries and the candidates should be assessed on merit,regardless of their nationality. Geographical and gender diversity in top positionsshould be widely encouraged, and the IFIs should further incorporate localknowledge from developing countries into their programs and projects.Chapter IIIThe World Trade OrganizationThe rapid growth in the range and reach of global trade and investment agreements hassparked burgeoning concern with regard to the challenge they pose to democracy, equity,human rights, and those as basic as the right to life and the right to health. These arereflected in the new and evolving accords that are negotiated within the WTO. At theCancun WTO Ministerial (September, 2003), as at the Seattle Ministerial (1999) itbecame clear that these concerns are shared by many country representatives as well asby world-wide networks of civil society organizations (CSOs).Given the failure of theWTOs rules and procedures both formal and informal, to produce a consensualframework for advancing global trade accords, it is clear that the time for reform isoverdue. Achieving a fair and just multilateral trading system requires an open,transparent discussion on governance reforms within the WTO. In this regard, civilsociety organizations have raised a number of concerns.The policy framework of the WTOFirstly, with respect to the trade and investment-led growth model, it should be said thatCSOs are not anti-trade or anti-investment per se, but are raising probing questions aboutthe extent to which a ‘one size fits all’ approach (encouraging foreign investment, de-regulation and export-led growth over domestically-set priorities such as domesticsavings, ownership and democratic regulation) has become an intellectual and policy“monoculture” in global institutions such as the WTO.CSOs are emphasizing theimportance of special and differential treatment, diversity and democracy as importantelements of a strategy to overcome the shortcomings of the current multilateral traderegime.Secondly, an important area of concern is that trade ministries through the WTO areattempting to assert a legal priority for trade and investment agreements over all others.They force environmental, labor and human rights agreements to so-called “necessity”
