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For the first time in its history, the World Bank will hold elections in order to decide who will be the next head of one of the most influential institutions in the world. Jose Antonio Ocampo, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Kim Yong Jim are the three candidates running for the post at the World Bank, each one backed by different countries and each one with fairly different ideas about how the World Bank should be run following their election. Let's start with the candidate that is most likely to win the elections, as backed by both the US, which hold the most votes, and Europe: Jim Yong Kim. President of Dartmouth College, the 52 year old professor was born in Seoul but moved to the US at the age of 5 where he has been living ever since and where he has managed to obtain a medical doctorate and then a PhD at Harvard. He seems not to take himself too seriously, as his outstanding performance at an 'Idol' competition can confirm. He has also covered the director position at the department of HIV/Aids at the World Health Organization for several years. Barack Obama's move, nominating Jim Yong Kim as the ideal candidate for the job vacancy, has surpised many as the Ivy League professor did not seem to be the most known candidate for such an important role. Jose Antonio Ocampo is a professor at Columbia University with a great degree of experience in various international organisations. The Colombian economist also held the post of finance minister in Colombia between 1996 and 1998, leading his country during one of the most difficult times, being able to avoid an economic disaster which has hit other Latin American countries. In recent years, Mr Ocampo has been praised for his role at the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean as well as for his role under secretary general for economic and social affairs. Ocampo is supported by Brazil and other emerging countries, but not from his own country, Colombia, which supports another fellow countrymen for the job. One of his most representing quotes goes: “To try to move forward without the state provokes unfair or unstable results, while ignoring social actors takes away the legitimacy needed for successful policies ”. Mr Ocampo has also criticised the outgoing president of the World Bank due to his inability to demand more capital and hold a more influential position in the world economy. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the current Nigerian finance minister who has recently stated that “certain things that we've always made this way, they have to go”, meaning that under her lead both the World Bank and global economy would have to change the way things are done. Backed by African countries, the Harvard-educated economist has managed to write-off 13 billion Euros (Dollars = 18 billion) during her career as finance minister (the first lady in Nigerian history to hold that position) while firmly fighting against corruption in her own country. The life of this self-determined lady has been described as happy and magical until the Biafran war broke out, causing her family to lose everything, being forced to run away. Surely she has much more to say about her life than any other candidate, having experienced the war during her childhood which has taught her a lot about life and how to live happily with simple things. Her outfit worth $25 may be an example of it. Without a doubt, she might represent a change in the culture of an international institution which has historically been US-centric but that could see a major change in the way things are done, giving the chance to third world countries to make their voices heard.
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