Under-fire Wolfowitz asks US to give school aid

BRUSSELS: The head of the World Bank brushed aside calls to quit on Wednesday and urged the United States and other rich countries to honour funding promises for a plan to help all the world's young children attend school.   

Paul Wolfowitz declined to comment on calls from some US politicians for him to resign. A former head of a World Bank ethics panel said on Tuesday Wolfowitz broke staff rules when he intervened directly in the personnel matters of his girlfriend.   

"The board is considering this issue. I had a chance on Monday to give my full explanation to the board," Wolfowitz said after attending a conference at the European Commission on gaps in education funding for poor countries.   

A World Bank committee is examining Wolfowitz's role in arranging a high-paid promotion for his girlfriend.   

"We need to follow due process. We need to stay focused on the very, very important work of the bank, and we are doing that," he said.   

Wolfowitz has previously said he followed guidance from the bank's ethics officers in arranging his girlfriend's promotion and transfer to a job at the US State Department.   

He said on Wednesday the United States and other industrialised countries needed to meet pledges to fund a UN programme that aims to ensure all children around the world attend primary school by 2015.   

"The real point is we need more people to step up here. We need the U.S. to step up here," said the former member of US President George W Bush's administration.   

An estimated 77 million children do not attend school and at the current rate of progress at least 75 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, will not achieve the target of universal primary education by 2015, the European Commission said.