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Overview
The tenth annual "Spring" meeting of ECOSOC was held on 16 April 2007 in New York following the meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee on 14 and 15 April 2007 in Washington . The overarching theme of this year's meeting was “Coherence, coordination and cooperation as a follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development – on the road to the review conference at Doha in 2008” . The special focus of this year's event was good governance; developing countries' participation in international economic decision-making; effective use of trade and investment policies; and aid effectiveness and innovative means of financing for development.
This meeting was opened by plenary addresses by the President of ECOSOC, the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly, who emphasized the importance of those themes for achieving the objectives of the Monterrey Consensus, the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit. A central feature of the Meeting was a dialogue by a panel composed of the representatives of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, WTO and UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, the senior management of these institutions, and the ministers and senior officials from the membership of the Economic and Social Council. In addition to this panel discussion, four simultaneous roundtables discussed this year's themes.
Ministers of finance, economy and development cooperation, central bank governors and a large number of Executive Directors of the World Bank and the IMF, the Deputy Chairperson of the Development Committee and the President of UNCTAD's Trade and Development Board participated.
One key message of the meeting was that the efforts to achieve the MDGs and the broader UN development agenda must be underpinned by a continued commitment of all to a global partnership for development. The views, proposals and new initiatives made during the deliberations provide critical inputs for three important events scheduled to be held later this year: ECOSOC's first Annual Ministerial Review and Development Cooperation Forum in July, and the General Assembly's High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development this fall. These, in turn, will be crucial stepping stones towards the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Doha in the second half of 2008.
On the margins of the meeting, the Secretary-General discussed ideas for making the UN play a more effective role in development and for enabling ECOSOC be a major part of this effort with seven former presidents of that body: H.E. Ali Hachani of Tunisia (2006), H.E. Munir Akram of Pakistan (2005); H.E. Marjatta Rasi of Finland (2004), H.E. Ivan Simonovic of Croatia (2002), H.E. Martin Belinga-Eboutou of Cameroon (2001), H.E. Markarim Wibisono of Indonesia (2000) and H.E. Juan Somavia of Chile (1998 and 1993), currently Director-General of the International Labour Organization.
The contact persons for the meeting at the UN are Mr. Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination (phone: 212-963-1811, fax 212-963 1712, email: ecosocinfo@un.org ) and Mr. Oscar de Rojas, Director of the Office of Financing for Development, (phone: Telephone: 212-963-2587, fax: 212-963-0443, email: ffdoffice@un.org )
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