Global Policy Forum

NGLS-- The UN General Assembly has begun preparations for an event -- which could take the form of a summit, international conference, General Assembly special session or other intergovernmental forum -- on the topic of "financing for development." Go Between summarizes discussions about, and preparations for the event, to be held no later than the year 2001.

General assembly resolution 52/179, adopted in December 1997, authorized the Second Committee to resume in order to hear the views of governments on key elements to address on the topic of financing for development, and on inputs that would be required from a broad range of stakeholders "including actors both within and outside the United Nations system."

On 19 March 1998 delegates of the GA's Second Committee (Economic and Financial) listed essential issues the event should address, ranging from official development assistance (ODA) to foreign direct investment and trade. It also identified possible sources of inputs to the process, including governments themselves; funds, programmes and agencies of the UN system; representatives of business and industry; NGOs; academics; and think-tanks.

The inputs and reports requested by governments will be compiled by the UN Secretariat and submitted to the 53rd General Assembly, which opens in September 1998. An ad hoc, open-ended working group of the 53rd GA will be convened to undertake in-depth examination of the reports of the Secretary-General. The working group will make recommendations on the from, scope and agenda of the event, which will be taken up at the 54th UN General Assembly in 1999. Governments will then decide about convening the high-level forum on the financing of development.

During the Second Committee session on 19 March, reconvened by Ambassador Oscar de Rojas (Venezuela), newly-appointed Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette spoke of the necessity to enhance the profile of the UN in economic and social spheres as a leading centre for development policy. She outlined three priorities for the initiative on financing for development:

• Never lose sight of the real goal, namely to improve the lives of men, women and children throughout the world;

• Keep the debate "grounded in reality" by addressing the challenges of a globalized financial and open trading system, rather than re-creating past confrontations; and

• Focus on the most important aspects of financing for development, hard as it may be to reach agreement on identifying them.

The atmosphere during the session was optimistic and almost exuberant. "Studies have been commissioned," said the United States delegate, "capitals have been put on alert; key partners outside the framework of the General Assembly have already been made aware of our endeavors and brought informally into the process." While differences in emphasis and views could be discerned among governments and groups of governments, in general the tone was upbeat and constructive.

Proposed Series of Informal Briefings

One of the first things governments requested was that the chair organize a series of informal briefings to maintain momentum while the Secretariat reports are being prepared. "It would be advisable," said a representative of Indonesia, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 (G-77), "that several briefings… be held in accordance with the key elements and topics indicated by the member countries."

Many encouraged the Second Committee Bureau and UN Secretariat, in organizing the briefings, to take all possible advantage of the presence in New York of visiting experts during the coming months, keeping in mind the need for a balance between experts from developed and developing countries. A number of governments expressed the wish to be briefed by the Secretariat on an ongoing basis in the course of preparation of the reports.

Possible Topics to be Addressed

Many who spoke during the debate put forward lists of topics to be addressed by the proposed high-level event and of the players to be involved. Topics frequently mentioned included:

• Official development assistance and the decline in available resources;

• Foreign direct investment, including its skewed distribution among developing countries;

• Short-term private capital flows, in particular their volatility; and

• The ongoing burden of indebtedness of many developing countries.

Taxation was also mentioned as a possible topic, as well as trade and domestic policies for resource mobilization. A number of governments said they wished to address coordination of macroeconomic policies to create an enabling environment. Several suggested that recommendations of recent major UN conferences could provide a basis for assessing finance for development. Also called for was an assessment of the adequacy of governance of the international monetary system. Some countries, which stressed the need to learn from past experiences in development, emphasized attention not just to quantity, but to quality of financing and its uses.

Involving a Wide Range of Actors

Most governments called for a wide range of actors to be involved in the upcoming process, both from within and outside the UN system. Some called for input from representatives of the private sector, in addition to governments and UN system players, and most mentioned NGO involvement. According to the representative of India it would be useful to receive these inputs from a broad range of sources including governments, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, regional commissions, regional banks, academicians, NGOs, think tanks, business and industry.

"I think that you will agree that we have had an extraordinarily rich and significant debate," said Mr. de Rojas in summing up the meeting, "and that the process which we have begun here marks an important moment in history of the consideration of international economic issues at the United Nations."

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