WORLD BANK PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS ‘NEW MULTILATERALISM’ ON 8 NOVEMBER

                                                            Note No. 5761

                                                            5 November 2002

Note to Correspondents

WORLD BANK PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS ‘NEW MULTILATERALISM’ ON 8 NOVEMBER

James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, will deliver a keynote address to the General Assembly’s Second Committee (Economic and Financial) on the topic "Making It Happen:  The New Multilateralism and Its Implications for Development" on Friday, 8 November at 5 p.m. in the Trusteeship Chamber.

Marco Antonio Suazo (Honduras), Chairman of the Second Committee, will preside over the event, which will be followed by an informal question-and-answer session.

Addressing the World Bank’s Board of Governors on 29 September,

Mr. Wolfensohn welcomed the emergence of a global partnership built on a consensus that the world is interdependent, and called for a “better development multilateralism” that would deliver “better development results”.  While the old multilateralism was “government to government”, Mr. Wolfensohn said, the new approach comprised the leaderships of developed and developing countries, international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society.

Friday’s event, organized by the Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), is part of a series of panel discussions, keynote addresses and luncheon discussions aimed at facilitating more focused debates and deliberations in the General Assembly.

For information, please contact Alberto Padova at DESA, (212) 963 4759, padova@un.org.

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