Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Plenary

47^th Meeting (AM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPENS TWO-DAY HIGH-LEVEL DIALOGUE ON IMPLEMENTATION

OF FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT COMMITMENTS

Aiming to re-energize the global community’s focus on issues relating to trade, aid, debt, investment and the international financial architecture, the General Assembly this morning kicked off its two-day High-level Dialogue for the implementation of the outcome of the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico.

Opening the event, Assembly President Julian R. Hunte (Saint Lucia) recalled the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus just over a year and a half ago and said the purpose of the current meeting was to comprehensively review progress made, both substantially and institutionally, in meeting the commitments contained therein.

The theme of the two-day meeting, “The Monterrey Consensus:  status of implementation and tasks ahead”, emphasized the importance of the present initiative, which must advance the development agenda, and permit the international community to systematically and strategically plan for further effective action, based on the commitments made at Monterrey.

The Financing for Development agenda was a comprehensive one, he said, which encompassed trade, official development assistance (ODA), debt relief, domestic resource mobilization and partnerships.  The partners in the broad coalition that had emerged following Monterrey were also part of the High-level Dialogue -– governments, major stakeholders, other intergovernmental organizations, civil society and the business sector.

After welcoming the ministers and other participants in the High-level Dialogue, he reviewed the documentation for the session and outlined the programme of work, including the modalities of participation in each segment.

Background

The General Assembly this morning convened a two-day High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, with a series of plenary and informal meetings, as well as interactive round tables, where a cross-section of international stakeholders plan to discuss ways to build on the “Monterrey Consensus”, the set of policy actions and measures agreed upon by world leaders at the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico, from 18 to 22 March 2002.

Before the Assembly is a series of reports by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on follow-up to the Monterrey Conference, and on implementation of the Millennium Declaration.  A number of the Economic and Social Council’s reports will also be considered, including a summary of its special 2003 high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Secretary-General’s report on implementation of and follow-up to commitments and agreements made at the International Conference on Financing for Development (document A/58/216) highlights the most significant areas of progress or lack thereof in implementing the policy actions agreed upon in Monterrey.  In some cases, it suggests guidelines for policies and processes and identifies issues for further discussion to fully put the Monterrey Consensus into play to mobilize domestic financial resources, investment and trade as engines for development.

The Monterrey Conference marked the beginning of a new international approach to dealing with issues of development finance.  The meeting grew from a unique and ground-breaking process, which brought together all relevant stakeholders under the United Nations umbrella to create a policy framework –- the Monterrey Consensus -– to guide their respective future efforts to deal with the issues of financing for development at the national, regional, international and systemic levels.

The Secretary-General’s report aims to facilitate discussion of the implementation of the policy actions and follows the structure of the Monterrey Consensus and focuses on two interrelated themes, “leading actions” and “staying engaged”.  It draws widely on inputs received from major institutional stakeholders in the financing for development process.  According to the report, most of the measures agreed under the Consensus -- which explicitly emphasizes national responsibility for economic and social development -– are of a long-term nature and involve building new institutions or restructuring existing ones, structural policies and measures to promote local and private initiatives to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach all people.

The report notes that, while in most countries positive steps have been taken in the direction agreed in the Consensus, in a number of countries, insufficient political will or special interests in a position to exert influence have prevented or slowed down the required reforms.  The timing and sequencing of required actions are largely influenced by current conditions.  In several countries, natural disasters, the outbreak of serious disease, pervasive social unrest, or the continuation or intensification of armed conflicts -– as in parts of sub-Saharan Africa –- have made concentration on long-term concerns more difficult.

Among his recommendations are several focusing on the work of the Economic and Social Council, including a suggestion that its annual spring meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions be focused on topics selected from the Monterrey Consensus.  Those topics should be policy-oriented and should be based on the overall theme of coherence, coordination and cooperation in follow-up to the Conference.  The Council may also wish to consider an appropriate arrangement, such as a geographically balanced committee or expanded bureau of similar arrangement, to assist it in effectively preparing for the annual spring meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions.

The report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration (document A/58/323), states the Secretary-General, is not a report on the United Nations as such, but rather “on the distance travelled by humanity as a whole towards –- or away from -– the objectives set for it by the world leaders who met in New York in September 2000”.  Nonetheless, it was essential, he said, to begin by referring to the “major disaster” which befell the United Nations on 19 August, when a terrorist attack on its Baghdad headquarters killed 22 people, including the mission chief, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The attack was “a direct challenge to the vision of global security, rooted in the United Nations Charter”, which inspired the Declaration adopted by all world leaders at the Millennium Summit exactly three years ago, he says.  The Millennium Development Goals range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to providing universal primary education, all by 2015.

In the chapter on peace and security, the longest in the report, he warns that “the international security architecture ... must be able to adapt to the needs of our time”, but notes a worrying lack of consensus about what those needs are.  While some States focus primarily on terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, for many around the globe poverty, deprivation and civil war remain the highest priority.

He states it is “vitally important that the international community not allow the differences of the past months to persist, and that it find unity of purpose around a common security agenda”, which, he adds, can only be achieved if States, in pursuing their national interests, show understanding and respect for global realities, and for the needs of others.

The common security agenda, he continues, “should reflect a global consensus on the major threats to peace and security, be they old or new, and on our common response”, and “should not shy away from the need to improve and, where necessary, change the structure and functions of the United Nations and other international institutions”.

The Security Council needs to “regain the confidence of States and of world public opinion”, he continues, and will be better able to do so “if it is perceived to be broadly representative of the international community as a whole and of the geopolitical realities of the contemporary world”. He hopes, therefore, that Member States will redouble their efforts to reach agreement on enlarging the Council’s membership.

In the chapter on development, he places particular emphasis on the need for developed countries to meet their commitments to the developing world in the areas of trade, debt relief and aid.  The success or failure of all the Goals hinges on this, and developed countries should agree on time-bound deadlines for fulfilling their pledges, comparable to the 2015 target for outcomes such as halving extreme poverty and hunger.

In the chapter on human rights, democracy and good governance, he says “there is a danger that we may retreat from some of the important gains” made during the 1990s, as human rights come under pressure both from terrorism and from the methods used by countries to fight it.

The report concludes with a chapter on “reinforcing multilateral institutions” in which the Secretary-General calls for “a hard look” at the existing architecture of international institutions and, in particular, a review of the principal organs of the United Nations itself -– not only the Security Council, but also the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and perhaps even the Trusteeship Council.

There is also a note by the Secretary-General on organization and procedural matters of the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development (document A/58/436), which outlines the dates and venues of the High-level Dialogue, its overall theme -– “The Monterrey Consensus:  status of implementation and tasks ahead”, and the schedule of meetings and organization of work.  It provides information on those who will be addressing the plenary sessions of the High-level Dialogue and explains the bases upon which the informal interactive dialogue and ministerial round tables will be conducted.

The note also provides information on the participation of States and observers in the meetings, as well as the participation of institutional stakeholders, the engagement of civil society and the business sector, documentation, the hearings with civil society and business interlocutors to precede the Dialogue, media coverage and side events.

The Assembly will also consider a summary by the President of the Economic and Social Council of the special high-level meeting of the Council with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization (New York, 14 April 2003) (document A/58/77-E/2003/62), which details the proceedings of that meeting and makes several suggestions as to the organization and content of the General Assembly’s High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development.  Among its suggestions, the report says the Assembly’s High-level Dialogue should address key issues of central concern, such as improved measurement of national and international efforts and outcomes for the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, including aid flows and their impact.

The Dialogue should also address additional steps that could be taken after the WTO ministerial meeting in Cancún, Mexico, to increase the chances that the multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda are completed on time; national and international measures to enhance debt sustainability of low-income countries to reduce the frequency and amplitude of debt defaults; further exploration of mechanisms for orderly debt workouts with multi-stakeholder participation; strengthened participation of developing countries in decision-making processes on economic policies, particularly in the international financial institutions; and increased coherence on a priority basis in identified areas.

The first addendum to that report, a summary of the hearings and dialogue of the Economic and Social Council with members of civil society (New York, 20 March 2003) (document A/58/77/Add.1-E/2003/62/Add.1), notes that in preparation for its special high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization, the Council had conducted public hearings and an interactive dialogue with representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with it and/or accredited to the financing for development process.  The hearings and dialogues featured panels on external debt; international trade; reform of global governance; the Millennium Development Goals and ODA; and policy coherence.

The second addendum to the report, a summary of the hearings and dialogue of the Economic and Social Council with business interlocutors (New York, 21 March 2003) (document A/58/77/Add.2-E/2003/62/Add.1), notes the Council also conducted public hearings and dialogues with business interlocutors in preparation for the special high-level meeting.  In this instance, the morning session featured panel discussions on identifying and eliminating business environment impediments to private investment; enhancing information, analysis and communication of country opportunities, risks and investment transaction services; improving developing country access to long-term finance for infrastructure development; and establishing frameworks for collaboration between the public and private sectors in implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.  During the afternoon session, business interlocutors provided progress reports on initiatives and projects set forth by them at the Monterrey Conference, as well as new ventures.

The report of the Economic and Social Council (document A/58/3, Part 1 and II) lists, in three chapters, the Council’s work during its organizational and resumed organizational, as well as substantive, sessions for 2003.  Chapter I outlines matters calling for action by or brought to the attention of the Assembly, on a host of items, including United Nations operational activities for international development cooperation, implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits, and preparations for an international meeting to review the programme of action for the sustainable development of small island developing States.

Chapter II of the report recounts the Council’s high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO, held on 14 April.  Chapter III details the high-level segment of the Council’s substantive session.  The theme for the segment, held from 30 June to 2 July, was “Promoting an integrated approach to rural development in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development”.

Part II of the Economic and Social Council report elaborates on the various segments of the Council’s substantive session held in July.

Also before the Assembly is a conference room paper on Follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development at the regional level:  Contribution of the Regional Commissions (document A/58/CRP.2).

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