20. Nov 2008
10:00

Press briefing on the UN Financing for Development meeting

CONCORD
10 Sq. Ambiorix
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Phone: +32 2 743 87 60
Fax: +32 2 732 19 34
Email: secretariat@concordeurope.org

Link to the organizer

Press Conference / Press Meeting

Human Rights & Development

Registration required

Brussels
Brussels

Press briefing on the UN Financing for Development meeting taking place in Doha One week ahead of Doha Summit (29 November to 2 December), CONCORD would like to present you with the position of the European NGOs on what is at stake and background information on the issue of financing for development. 2008 has seen unprecedented financial disruption and crisis, with markets across the world reeling from bank closures, government budgets overloaded with new deficits from bailing out the banks, and house prices spiraling out of control. But what is the impact on the forgotten people in developing countries? Food prices have seen critical increases in recent years pushing already poor families dangerously close to the edge. This is now compounded by rising unemployment, global financial instability, and the ever increasing threat of Northern governments backing away from their aid commitments. On November 15, the leaders of 20 nations and the major multilateral financial institutions will gather behind closed doors in Washington to discuss the future of the global economy. But once again, the impoverished people of the world will probably be forgotten in the summit, even if they are the ones that will be hit the hardest by the financial crisis. The cure for the crisis that rich countries may come up with in Washington will make the situation worse for the developing world. The world needs a process beyond the G20 meetings that is much more inclusive of other nations and the peoples of those nations. Only two weeks after the summit, leaders of the world will meet in Doha, Qatar, to discuss critical commitments on overhauling international financial and aid architecture to make it work for development, and take stock on progress made towards fulfilling the commitments made in Monterrey in 2002[1]. But in this time of uncertainty – will they keep to their promises or use the financial crisis as an excuse to let the poor down once again? And will the G20 talks on the global financial system taking place in Washington DC on 15 November mean less or more for developing countries? The negotiations for the Doha Financing for Development summit are currently log jammed, and it is unclear what will be the final outcome. The EU is having difficulties agreeing a strong common position.