Special high-level meeting of the ECOSOC with the BWIs, WTO and UNCTAD
The Special high-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the 51³Ô¹Ï Conference on Trade and Development took place on Monday, 14 April 2008, at 51³Ô¹Ï Headquarters in New York. The overall theme of the meeting was “Coherence, coordination and cooperation in the context of the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, including new challenges and emerging issues”.
The meeting substantively covered the following sub-themes:
- 1. New initiatives on financing for development;
- 2. Supporting development efforts and enhancing the role of middle-income countries, including in the area of trade;
- 3. Supporting development efforts of the least developed countries, including through trade capacity-building;
- 4. Building and sustaining solid financial markets: challenges for international cooperation;
- 5. Financing of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The format of the meeting included an opening plenary meeting with statements by the President of ECOSOC, the UN Secretary-General, the heads of relevant intergovernmental bodies and other senior officials plus the presentation by the World Bank on Global Monitoring Report 2008, followed by simultaneous multi-stakeholder roundtable discussions on sub-themes 1 to 3. After the lunch break, the afternoon session featured consecutively the thematic debate on sub-theme 4 and the special event on sub-theme 5. Each of the debates began with three keynote presentations and included an informal interactive dialogue among all participants. Closing remarks by the President of the Council concluded the meeting.
The meeting was open to participation by all Members and Observers of ECOSOC. All intergovernmental organizations that have observer status with the General Assembly and all non-governmental organizations that are in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and all intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations accredited to the FfD process were also invited to attend.
Documentation
- Letter of 19 March 2008 from the President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Léo Mérorès (Haiti)
- Letter of 29 February 2008 from the President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Léo Mérorès (Haiti)
- Letter of 22 February 2008 from the President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Léo Mérorès (Haiti)
- Revised Informal Note to the Council (3 March 2008)
- Programme
- Biographical Notes
- Brief Informal Summary
- Webcasts
- Archived video of the morning session [] [] (3 hours and 36 minutes)
- Archived video of the afternoon session [] [] (2 hours and 52 minutes)
- Consultations with BWIs (photos)
- Photo Gallery
Statements and Presentations
- Opening statement by Ambassador Léo Mérorès, President of the Economic and Social Council
- Presentation by Mr. Zia Qureshi, Senior Advisor to the Chief Economist, World Bank, on Global Monitoring Report 2008
- Presentation by Mr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 51³Ô¹Ï
- Presentation by Mr. Christopher Towe, Deputy Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF
- Presentation by Mr. Tariq Banuri, Senior Fellow and Director, Future Sustainability Programme, Stockholm Environment Institute
- Presentation by Mr. Lucio Monari, Senior Manager, Sustainable Development Vice-Presidency, World Bank
- Closing remarks by the President of ECOSOC
Inputs
Inputs from Civil Society and the Private Sector
- “Domestic and Global Policy Linkages for Enhancing the Role of Middle Income Countries in Financing for Development” Statement Issued by the Development Alternatives with Women for A New Era [DAWN]
- Statement by Eurodad to the Roundtable on Middle Income Countries
- World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI) Statement to Roundtable on New initiatives on financing for development
- Proposal to Seek the Approval of an International Political Agreement on the Implementation of a Currency Transaction Tax (CTT)
- Statement of Elena Gerebizza, Manitese/Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale during Thematic debate “Building and sustaining solid financial markets: challenger for international cooperation”
- Intervention on behalf of Civil Society by David Hillman of Stamp Out Poverty, a network of UK NGOs working on Innovative Financing, and representing the European Network on Finance and Development (Sub-theme 5: Financing of climate change mitigation and adaptation)
- Remarks made by Cecilia Alemany, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) on behalf of the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development during Roundtable 3
- Presentation by Stephan Schulmeister during the Round Table Discussion on “New initiatives on financing for development”