PRESS CONFERENCE ON MEETING OF ECOSOC, BRETTON WOODS INSTITUTIONS

At United Nations Headquarters today, the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) briefed journalists on the Council’s annual high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions. 

This year, the one-day meeting features a series of round table discussions and provides the first opportunity for the donor community to assess the outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development -– held in Monterrey, Mexico from 18 to 22 March -– and to coordinate implementation initiatives.

The ECOSOC President, Ivan Simonovic (Croatia) said this year the high-level event included, along with the participation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), representatives from the World Trade Organization (WTO).  Following the spirit of Monterrey, it would also be open to representatives of the business community, non-governmental organizations and the media.

Mr. Simonovic said that a “spirit of optimism” had characterized discussions -- a clear indication that global actors were dedicated to ensuring that the Millennium Development Goals were realized.  That hopefulness was due as much to the slow but steady improvement in the world economy, as to the overall commitment the stakeholders had demonstrated towards the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, agreed by world leaders at the Financing Conference.

“The time for action is now,” he continued.  For the Council, in order to ensure that financial, trade and economic activities supported broader development goals, the outcomes of its high-level meetings would have to be formalized, the meetings would have to be prepared more thoroughly, and interaction with stakeholders during the run-up to the annual spring meeting would have to be enhanced.  All that would ensure there was a close link between the Millennium Development Goals and the principles set for their financing at Monterrey.

He said that when that Consensus had been reached, he had been both proud and worried -- proud because all relevant stakeholders had been brought aboard, worried because of the special trust it placed in ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies.  Today, however, he was less worried, because the participants in the high-level meeting seemed to recognize the Consensus as almost a contract between developed and developing countries -– a set of serious obligations towards delivering sustainable development for all.  He hoped future high-level meetings would serve that purpose.  

He said that stakeholders appeared ready to, among other things:  promote the most efficient use of resources on a national level; mobilize all available resources for development; and insist that developed countries had the obligation to ensure that developing countries that invested in the Consensus’ principles and broader development plans were not left to their hardships, due to a lack of resources.

Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s Minister of Finance and Chairman of the joint IMF and World Bank Development Committee, who joined Mr. Simonovic at the briefing, highlighted the Committee’s meetings held in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.  He said the development community was now in the process of building the bridge between Monterrey and the upcoming Johannesburg Summit for Social Development.  He added that out of Monterrey’s spirit of partnership a decisive change in the relationship between donors and recipients had emerged which would be beneficial heading into Johannesburg and beyond.

Innovative financing was the challenge, he said.  The Millennium Development Goals provided donors with a set of deliverables, but after Monterrey there were still a number of critical gaps that needed to be addressed.  So, the time was ripe to move from philosophy to implementation.  “Now we need a determined plan of action in the wake of Monterrey and the Millennium Summit,” he added.  “That was what Johannesburg must deliver.”

The Development Committee had discussed, among other things, the world economic outlook and had emphasized the importance of “aid effectiveness,” the notion that that every dollar must count.  The ministers had expressed support for those programmes and processes whereby countries would develop their own policies, take ownership of them and drive the change to deepen democracy.  They also stressed the importance of ensuring market access and external support for development processes in countries.

Mr. Manuel added that there was a clear imperative to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals.  They were not just reminders, he said, but an impetus for change.  The Committee had therefore decided to take a closer look at some of the Goals.  They felt 2015 was too far away to ensure education for all.  It created a “crisis of conscience” to imagine children born today, or even next year, not having access to education within five years time.  The date should be brought forward, to ensure that today’s children could get into school systems and have greater opportunities. 

He felt that the wider development community would approach other Millennium Development Goals in a similar fashion.  The challenge was to ensure that the programmes got under way, that the money was made available and that world leaders were committed to change.

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