Conference on World Financial

and Economic Crisis

10^th Meeting (PM)

DELEGATES CALLED ON TO TRANSLATE BOLD NEW FRAMEWORK INTO EFFECTIVE ACTION,

AS UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON WORLD FINANCIAL CRISIS CONCLUDES

Hears Final Speakers, after Adopting Outcome Document Friday;

Assembly President Says Historic Text Beginning of Important, Necessary Journey

After five days of debate, the United Nations Conference on the world financial crisis concluded today, with General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann urging delegates to be inspired by the work they had done on the outcome document “and sustain the same sense of urgency and commitment as we translate this bold new framework into effective action”.

In closing remarks today at United Nations Headquarters, Mr. d’Escoto said the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development, which began 24 June, had focused world attention on a crisis that was gripping everyone around the globe and required urgent steps to solve pressing problems and reform outdated institutions.

The Conference, which ended today, had brought together world leaders to assess the worst global economic downturn since the Great Depression and identify emergency and long-term responses to soften its many impacts.  On 26 June, delegates adopted a sweeping outcome document that contained recommendations to fight the recession and establish safer and fairer financial practices.  Among other measures, they called for more resources for social protection, food security and human development, and follow-through on commitments for increased development assistance.

The conference inspired the attendance of 60 Member States at the cabinet level and the participation of more than 170 Member States during the plenary sessions, Mr. d’Escoto said.  He said there was a significant degree of resonance between the many calls and pleas made during the conference and the decisions and recommendations enveloped in the outcome document.  For this and many reasons, the final declaration of the conference met the test of a plan of action suitable for the times.  “It is, in short, a historic landmark –- the beginning, not the end, of an important and necessary journey.”

In a statement made on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang said the Member States had used sheer political will to arrive at a consensus document that he termed a “milestone”.

The global consensus achieved during the conference had helped shape a defined role for the United Nations in dealing with the global financial and economic crisis, he said.  The conference had delivered a powerful message to all countries, and the document would help contain the effects of the financial crisis as it provided a way forward to improve the global economy’s resilience.

A representative of the African Union said no region had been spared the adverse effects of the global financial and economic crisis.  Though the poverty it had sparked was not new to Africa, the current crisis was different from past situations in terms of its source and severity.  She said preventing future crises required concerted efforts at the global level and developed nations had a duty to assist developing nations in the areas of aid, trade and debt relief.

Also speaking today were the representatives of Sweden and the Permanent Observers of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).

Background

The United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development reconvened today to conclude its plenary debate.

Statements

ELIZABETH TANKEU, African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, said no region had been spared the adverse effects of the global financial and economic crisis.  The poverty it engendered was not new to Africa, but the current crisis was different from those in the past in terms of source and severity.  In the past, Africa’s development partners had attributed the causes to internal factors -– a lack of good economic and political governance, conflict and political instability.  However, African leaders, within the framework of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), had made tremendous progress towards eliminating those development constraints.  Many had adopted measures aimed at improving governance, and enhancing democracy and the rule of law.

She said preventing future crises required concerted efforts at the global level.  Developed nations had a duty to assist developing nations in the areas of aid, trade and debt relief.  As such, they must deliver on aid commitments; support Africa’s regional integration and economic diversification efforts; allocate part of their stimulus packages to a vulnerability fund to assist African countries in mitigating the social and economic consequences of the crisis; fund the “Aid for Trade” initiative; and give due support to African regional financial institutions, including the African Development Bank.  An early, successful conclusion to the Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks would also help African countries mitigate the impacts.  Finally, she said a fundamental change in the financial governance architecture was needed and the shortcomings of global markets had to be addressed.  She hoped that the Conference’s outcome and follow-up processes would meet expectations.

ANDERS LIDÉN ( Sweden) said that the order of the day was to determine how to go through the current economic crisis while safeguarding the progress made towards poverty reduction and creating conditions for renewed growth and progress.  Following its assumption of the European Union (EU) Presidency tomorrow, managing the economic and financial crisis would be one of its two priorities, the other being climate change.  Sweden was supporting national efforts in response to the crisis, and its official development assistance (ODA) was exceeding the internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income.  It was now essential that all donors delivered on their international official development assistance commitments.  In November, European Union Development Ministers would review progress in that regard.

It was equally important to make development cooperation more effective, he continued.  The most vulnerable groups must be protected.  The private sector and infrastructure investment also must be sustained.  It was necessary to continue efforts on an ambitious, action- and results-oriented response to the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action.  Securing agreement to a European Union operational framework for that very purpose would be a key aspiration for the Swedish European Union Presidency.

Continuing, he highlighted the need to refrain from protectionist measures and work towards an inclusive globalization and an open world economy.  The European Union had an important role to play in that regard.  The European Union was, and should remain, at the forefront, promoting free trade and increased market access for developing countries.  The Union had also adopted a coordinated strategy to support the financial sector in stabilizing markets.  A few days ago, the European Union Heads of State and Government had concluded that, although that strategy had been effective, Governments still needed to stay alert for possible further measures.

During its Presidency, Sweden would make further efforts to strengthen the European Union agenda on policy coherence and development, he added.  His Government also intended to provide a supplementary contribution of some $92 million to the International Development Association of the World Bank; provide about $13 million to counter the effects of high and volatile food prices; increase its support for trade and microfinance in the poorest countries; and make a special provision for nutrition and social protection for the most vulnerable.  Sweden had also allocated funds to improve maternal health through promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights.  A Swedish risk capital company had been given a grant to support private sector investments in developing countries.  His Government was also setting up a high-level advisory council with the private sector to make better use of the experience of Swedish enterprises in developing countries.

MASSIMO TOMMASOLI, observer of the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, said 15 September 2008 marked the first-ever celebration of the United Nations International Democracy Day and the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank, which sparked the beginning of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Notwithstanding, the crisis provided an opportunity for reform.  But, any reform would depend on the quality of the political institutions and how deep the democratic practice and culture had permeated a given country or region.

The gender dimension of the crisis, which was global and systemic, had to be addressed, as women made up the majority of the poor, he said.  When democratic public spaces were weak, their weakness contributed to fuelling a financial crisis by the absence of transparency and accountability.  On the other hand, because of that weakness, the most vulnerable population, including the unemployed, did not have a voice when the impact of the economic crisis was unequally shared within the society.

Nations with a weak democratic tradition may face setbacks, such as anti-immigration sentiment and nationalism and political tensions and challenges, he said.  The institute believed that international efforts at monitoring the global impact of the crisis should also take into account its democracy-building dimensions and policy implications, in order to provide analysis for use by partners and policy makers.

MOUSSA MAKAN CAMARA, a Permanent Observer for the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, said that his organization had been among the first ones to elaborate recommendations on the scale of the problem and draw attention to the need for concerted action.  Heads of State and Government sharing the French language had reaffirmed their commitment to solidarity, which was at the heart of Francophonie.  They had also reaffirmed that cooperation continued to be the basis for good functioning of financial markets and called for coordinated intervention to make the international financial system more coherent.  In the Declaration of Quebec, which was adopted in October 2008, they had called for a summit on the financial crisis.  The President of France was then mandated by his peers to bring that message to the G-20 meeting in Washington, D.C., in November.

He said that, on the eve of the G-20 meeting in London in April 2009, the Secretary-General of Francophonie and his counterpart of the Commonwealth had released a joint communiqué calling for wider dialogue to ensure that solutions proposed benefited the large and the small, the richest and the poorest.  The Secretaries-General had called for concerted solutions, based on solidarity.  It was in that spirit that the Secretariat of the Commonwealth and Francophonie had organized, in April, on the margins of the General Assembly of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, a ministerial meeting on viability of debt.  The Ministers of Finance of the Francophonie and the Commonwealth had then circulated a ministerial declaration on that matter.

The summit in Quebec, two G-20 meetings, and other international and regional events had demonstrated that the States were conscious of the need to act in solidarity in the search for solutions to the financial crisis, he continued.  Solutions proposed had shown that no measure was enough in itself and that not all measures were needed in all countries.  It was necessary to ensure a reasonable balance between short and long-term goals in the search for stability and development.  Agriculture had to be relaunched, and the goals of food sovereignty needed to be met.  It was also important to rethink the development goals for the least developed countries and resume Doha negotiations, to reduce dependence on traditional markets.  All of that was true, but an increased impetus was also required on implementation. The crisis offered an opportunity for that.  The General Assembly was in a position to place the countries experiencing difficulties at the centre of the efforts to address the crisis.

The Assembly then adopted “Credentials of representatives to the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact of Development” (A/CONF.214/6) as contained in paragraph 13 of the Report of the Credentials Committee.

The Assembly also adopted the draft report of the Conference (A/CONF.214/8), as introduced by Rapporteur Maged Abdelaziz ( Egypt).

In a statement made on behalf of Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, SHA ZUKANG, gave his support for the Conference and the outcome document, in which the Member States used sheer political will to arrive at a consensus outcome.  He said the document was a milestone achieved by all Member States to address the impact of the financial crisis.

This global consensus helped shape a defined role for the United Nations.  It aimed to make the stimulus and other recovery efforts work for everybody.  It would help contain the effect of the crisis, improve the economy’s resilience, and reform the international financial and economic architecture.  The outcome document should help provide more balance and sustained economic development as it helped overcome poverty and inequality, he said.  The conference would send a powerful message to all countries, rich and poor.  The way forward of the outcome document provided a new mandate for intergovernmental bodies, including the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).  On behalf of the Secretariat, he pledged his full support to those endeavours.

General Assembly President MIGUEL D’ESCOTO BROCKMANN again labelled the conference an historic one that had given the world an opportunity to hear the voices of the “G-192” on the financial crisis.  The outcome document adopted by consensus on 26 June was the first step in a long process of putting the world on a path of solidarity, stability and sustainability.

He said the Conference had focused on a crisis that was gripping the world and needed urgent steps to solve the problems and reform institutions.  The many Heads of States and Government, ministers and representatives assembled at the Conference repeatedly expressed the conviction that the world’s economic problems could not be solved without dealing with the broader issues of global governance and the sustainability of “our dear Mother Earth”.  He said he considered the package of decisions and recommendations of the outcome document, under the heading “The Way Forward”, to be pivotal and carefully balanced.  They were also time sensitive and required the coordination and cooperation of several institutions.  These included the General Assembly, the United Nations Development System, the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General.  He intended to soon begin a process of consultations with these bodies, including the President-elect of the Assembly’s sixty-fourth session.

He said the convening of the Conference within seven months of the decision taken in Doha inspired the attendance of 60 Member States at the cabinet level and the participation of more than 170 Member States in the plenary sessions.  He said the Conference represented the first global meeting on the crisis to bring together the “G-192” and key representatives of the civil society, the private sectors and members of the United Nations system.  The Assembly heard consensus on an ambitious outcome document that included common understanding on the causes and impact of the crisis, the need for urgent action to increase official development assistance and speed up its delivery, the need to deal with debt and global liquidity, and the need for reform of the international financial and economic system and architecture for improved regulation and monitoring.

The final outcome was a plan of action appropriate to the times, he said.  “It is, in short, a historic landmark –- the beginning, not the end, of an important and necessary journey.”

“So let us be inspired by this work and sustain the same sense of urgency and commitment as we translate this bold new framework into effective action,” he said.  “We quite solemnly and gladly assume these responsibilities and obligations.”

He then concluded the conference.

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For information media • not an official record