Doha, 2008
In March 2002, the United Nations held the first International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico to consider new approaches to financing more equitable global development. The resulting Monterrey Consensus "resolved to address the challenges of financing for development" and "to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development." A 2007 General Assembly Resolution has announced a "Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development," held in Doha, Qatar November 29 - December 2, 2008. The challenge for the Doha agenda was to solidify the vague objectives of the Monterrey Consensus into more concrete commitments. This page follows the progress of the Doha Conference including its preparation and follow-up.
NGO Documents
Key Recommendations for Doha Draft Outcome Document (August 30, 2008)
NGOs have published a benchmark document with a new set of concrete measures to influence decision making at the upcoming November 2008 Financing for Development Conference in Doha. NGOs urge the US and the EU to drop demands on poorer nations to reduce tariffs. This shortened version summarizes the key recommendations. The NGOs call for the creation of an International Tax Organization to promote cooperation on matters such as cross-border tax evasion. NGOs say world leaders should ensure that revenues transferred to poorer countries help disadvantaged populations overcome the difficulties they face from rising food prices and climate change.
Outcome of the Civil Society Forum (December 10, 2008)
This declaration by 250 civil society organizations, which had been meeting at the Civil Society Forum prior to the conference on Financing for Development in Doha, proposes that rich countries close tax havens, end shadow banking, and shift to development aid without conditions attached. Further, the document calls for a more effective role of the UN in the "multiple crises" of finance, food and energy, which hurt the world's poorest through massive job losses and increasing food insecurity. (Ffdngo)
Good but Not Enough: Women's Rights and Gender Equality in Doha 2008 (December 2, 2008)
The Doha outcome document stresses the linkages between gender equality and development, a step welcomed by the Women's Working Group on Financing for Development. However, the Women's group argues that gender equality must be a cross-cutting issue on the agenda of the next UN Conference in 2009. (Awid)
Open Letter to President of the General Assembly (November 30, 2008)
The Doha NGO Group on Financing for Development proposes that the group of G20 should turn into a universal forum in the form of an "economic security council" within the UN, with regional representation and a rotation system. They further recommend that the UN tax committee be upgraded to an inter-governmental body, and that agencies, institutions and civil society organizations gather in 2013 for a second review of the Financing for Development agenda. (The Civil Society Forum on Financing for Development)
Report From the Civil Society Forum (November 27, 2008)
The UN member states attending the Conference in Doha should address the multiple crises of energy, food, climate and finance, which threaten the fulfillment of the MDGs and the stability of the global economy. Further, this group of 250 civil society organizations express special concern that tax havens cause capital to flow from the South to North, thus acting as "reverse welfare." (The Civil Society Forum on Financing for Development)
CONCORD Briefing DOHA (November, 25 2008)
This press briefing by CONCORD (European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development) critically analyzes the Financing for Development agenda. CONCORD is alarmed by the weak commitment to the Doha process so far shown by countries, including the EU, and stresses the urgent need to redesign the global financial architecture to avoid capital flight and ensure adequate representation of less developed countries in international economic institutions.
Making Financial Markets Work for Development (October 2008)
This working paper for the International Follow-Up Conference in Doha November 2008, proposes a new financial architecture including a special tax on capital assets and improved supervision of investors. The paper describes the current financial system as a "casino economy," based on competition, speculation and pursuit of profit, which contributes to increasing food prices and makes the poor pay the costs of the global financial crisis. (Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst)
Financing for Development: From Monterrey to Doha (July 2008)
Ahead of the November 2008 Financing for Development (FfD) conference in Doha, this South Centre report calls on poorer countries to set up a post-Doha agenda to foster South-South cooperation on FfD issues. Since the first FfD summit in 2002, the international economic context has changed - countries like China and India are emerging as key players in global financial markets. South Centre
doubts that richer countries will engage in substantial dialogue at the upcoming meeting to address these shifts in order to effectively deal with FfD issues.
The Road to Doha Newsletter
This monthly newsletter provides updates on the Financing for Development process leading up to the Second Global Conference on Financing for Development in Doha. (DESA Financing for Development Office & United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service)
September 2008 | August 2008 | July 2008 | June 2008 | May 2008 | March/April 2008 | February 2008 | January 2008 | December 2007 | October/November 2007 September 2007 | August 2007 | July 2007 | June 2007 | May 2007 | April 2007 | March 2007 | February 2007
Doha Declaration on Financing for Development (December 9, 2008)
This declaration, adopted during the Follow-up Conference on Financing for Development in Doha in December 2008, reviews the Monterrey Consensus on issues such as trade, debt, aid and capital flight. The declaration calls for a strengthening of the UN's role in the financial crisis, by launching a conference under UN auspices to review the international financial and monetary architecture. (United Nations)
Commission of the Reform of the International Monetary and Financial System (November 29, 2008)
The DOHA Conference created a commission under UN auspices for the Reform of the International Monetary and financial System. Professor Joseph Stiglitz is chair of the commission, which will publish a report in 2009 including suggestions to create principles for a stable economic system for all countries. (United Nations)
The Road to Doha Newsletter (February, 2008)
This newsletter summarizes the Financing for Development review sessions on mobilizing both domestic and international financial resources for development. In addition, the newsletter features an editorial that argues that external debt is continuing unabated, with low-income countries paying $100 million dollars each day to creditors. The author calls on the Doha conference to support the growing global call for action on odious debt and responsible lending. (DESA Financing for Development Office & United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service)
Preliminary Financing for Development Work Programme for 2008 (January 10, 2008)
The President of the UN General Assembly has published a program of work for the preparation for the development financing conference scheduled for the end of 2008 in Doha. During the year, the UN will host six thematic "review sessions" covering domestic financial resources, foreign direct investment, international trade, international aid, debt relief and reforms of the international monetary, financial and trading systems. The UN will also host "hearings" to involve NGOs and the business sector in the process.
"CTT for FfD" - Currency Transaction Tax for Financing Development (September 24, 2008)
This statement calls upon the delegates at the Doha Conference on Financing for Development to adopt a global currency transaction tax that would raise additional funding for development. The United Nations should administer the tax and use the revenue to achieve the UN Millennium Goals. (Cttforffd)
Follow-Up to and Implementation of the Outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development (August 10, 2007)
This report by the Secretary General evaluates the agreements made at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, March 2002. The report evaluates progress on all six core areas of the conference's outcome document: the Monterrey Consensus. The areas of concern will most likely be top of the agenda at the Second Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar, 2008.
Follow-Up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus (December 6, 2007)
Following the High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in October 2007, the chairperson of the second committee presented this draft resolution to the UN General Assembly to evaluate the "Monterrey Consensus" – the outcome document of the first Financing for Development conference held in 2002. The draft gives the format and the goals of the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development in Doha in November – December 2008, and the measures the UN will take to evaluate the process post-Doha.
Coherence, Coordination and Cooperation in the Context of the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus (March 20, 2007)
This note by the UN Secretary General presents four themes for discussion at the 2007 special high-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council, which will review implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and prepare for the 2008 follow-up Financing for Development Conference in Doha, Qatar. The topics include realization of the WTO Doha development agenda and improving aid effectiveness. (United Nations)
General Assembly Resolution 61/191 (December 20, 2006)
This General Assembly resolution announces the "Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus" to be held in Doha, Qatar during the second half of 2008. (United Nations)
Follow-Up to and Implementation of the Outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development (August 6, 2006)
This report by the UN Secretary General on the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus emphasizes the need for "concrete follow-up action." It calls for progress in trade and increased mobilization of developing countries' domestic resources, both issues which will likely be addressed at the 2008 Follow-up Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar. (United Nations)
Report of the International Conference on Financing for Development (2002)
This United Nations document contains the Monterrey Conference resolutions (the so-called "Monterrey Consensus") as well as reports on the work of various segments, forums and roundtables during the Conference. The document focuses on resource mobilization, trade, debt, and reforming the international trading and financial systems.
First Financing for Development Outcome Document Breaks Some New Ground But Misses Key Development Finance Issues (August 1, 2008)
World leaders will discuss the draft Doha Outcome Document on Reviewing the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus in the run up to the November 2008 Financing for Development conference in Doha. This Eurodad article says that although the document addresses the challenges of food production and high energy prices, it fails to tackle issues of capital flight, official development aid and debt. For example, the document recognizes capital flight as a major roadblock for mobilizing domestic resources for development but, does not address tax evasions which are the main cause of the problem.
Redesigning Global Economic Governance (May 6, 2008)
The international system of economic governance - comprised of the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund - lacks an institution that integrates their global policies. At the Financing for Development (FfD) conference in Doha in November 2008, governments will discuss reforms of this international system. This Policy Innovations article endorses the proposal for an "integrated multi-stakeholder forum" on FfD, where world leaders, NGOs, UN members, and private sector representatives can continue to discuss reforms after the Doha summit.
Ffd Briefing 1 (December 14, 2007)
Global Policy Forum Europe Director Jens Martens provides a one-page summary of the General Assembly draft resolution on the upcoming UN conference on development financing. The GA resolution – dated December 6, 2007 – expects a first draft outcome document by end of July 2008.
Financing for Development: From Monterrey to Doha (March 14, 2007)
In this article, Global Policy Forum's Jens Martens summarizes the events leading up to the 2008 Second Global Conference on Financing for Development. He further speculates on possible issues on the agenda, such as financing the Millennium Development Goals, reforming international aid, and introducing international "solidarity levies" for development. The challenge, however, will be for governments "to agree on new initiatives beyond the minimal consensus" of the first financing for development conference. (World Economy and Development)
Financing for Development
This United Nations website posts information on the follow-up process to the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico.
Civil society engagement
This website covers the Doha Civil Society Organization Forum, which will be held in Doha, Qatar from 25 November to 27 November 2008 just prior to the Doha International Review Conference on Financing for Development. In addition, the site entails information and reports about the CS and NGO engagement in the follow-up process after the Monetreey consensus in 2002.
