Program on Social & Economic Policy
In 1998, the global economic system entered its worst crisis since the 1930s. As a result, the prevailing neo-liberal policy consensus has started to unravel, opening the way for the most serious debate on global economic policy in many years.
Global Policy Forum welcomed the new atmosphere, since we have been working for the past five years to analyze critically the global economic policy process. And we have been working hard to promote discussion about the need for new institutions, democratic policy making and just policies.
GPF produced a major policy paper on World Bank pension policy in 1994. We were an active participant in the UN's World Summit for Social Development in 1995. We developed one of the most highly-regarded and widely-used web sites in this field in 1996. And we organized an important expert meeting on Economic and Social Rights and another on the Multilateral Agreement on Investments in 1997.
The 1998 Program on Economic and Social Policy
GPF focused on three major dimensions of this program in 1998. The "Finance for Development" Project monitored a new United Nations initiative that will lead to a global conference in 2000. A second project culminated in a GPF conference in July on "Democracy and Development." And a third project centered on research, as well as development of the social and economic policy area of the GPF web site.
Finance for Development
Development in its best sense means building the material basis of a better life for all. This may mean a new railroad, a new hospital or a new factory - projects which can help transform life from poverty and illiteracy to prosperity and full human realization. Building these things requires financing. So the great challenge of development is how to provide financing in ways that address the greatest needs and in ways that do not lead to crushing indebtedness and greater poverty but instead to real development.
The United Nations is planning to hold a global conference on Finance for Development in the near future, probably in the year 2000. Under the leadership of Associate Devaleena Das, GPF began to monitor this conference process and to encourage other leading NGOs to participate in it. GPF helped to circulate information about a series of policy briefings organized at the UN by Amb. Oscar de Rohas of Venezuela, and we helped encourage NGOs to submit comments to the UN Secretariat as part of the conference planning process. In July, Amb. Rohas invited GPF Director James Paul to participate as a commentator in the briefing on "New and Innovative Sources of Finance"
"Development and Democracy" Meeting
In July, GPF organized a meeting that brought together Washington-based NGOs working on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with New York-based NGOs working on the United Nations. The purpose of the meeting was to compare strategies and better coordinate efforts relating to global social and economic policy. Co-sponsored by the Women's Environment and Development Organization and the UN Office of Amnesty International, the event assembled 15 NGO leaders along with two members of the UN Secretariat. During a single, intense day of discussions, the group made great progress in defining common issues and considering means of joint action in the future. The participants decided to stay in regular contact and to have another meeting, with a slightly expanded group of participants, in 1999.
Research & Web Development
GPF had a number of research projects in 1998, including research on income equality, on transnational corporations, and on finance for development. The latter was a research collaboration between GPF Director James Paul and Jens Martens of WEED, a research institute in Bonn, Germany. That paper will be published in early 1999 in a book of essays honoring Prof. Klaus Hüfner of the Freie Universität, Berlin.
The GPF team worked hard throughout 1998 to build and enhance the Social and Economic Policy sector of our web site. We added a large number of documents, articles and essays on the World Bank, the IMF, the World Trade Organization, the Multilateral Agreement on Investments, and the growing debates about globalization, the global financial crisis and the need for new policies and institutions. This part of the site attracted about four hundred thousand hits during the year and some of its original essays and document selections were assigned in courses at a number of leading colleges and universities.
Overall, GPF achieved many accomplishments in 1998 in its program on social and economic policy. But as the global crisis continues to gather force, the challenge we face will increase. GPF plans to be in the leadership on Finance for Development and we will use our outstanding research and analytic capacity to address the crisis and consider the best means of resolving it.
Global Policy Forum is supported primarily by contributions from generous individuals who join as members. GPF also receives grants from foundations and partner institutions. GPF is incorporated in the State of New York, registered as a charitable organization and recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the revenue code.
