DPI/NGO Briefing

The Monterrey Consensus and the United Nations Development Agenda

23 March 2006

Summary

The DPI/NGO Section held its regular weekly NGO briefing on 23 March 2006, which provided an overview of the Monterrey Consensus and the United Nations Development Agenda.

During the panel discussion from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., H.E. Kirsti Lintonen, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations; Alberto D’Alotto, Deputy Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations; Oscar de Rojas, Director, Financing for Development Office, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; and Philo Morris, Chair, NGO Committee on Financing for Development, talked about the status of implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, its challenges and the follow-up process. A World Chronicle interview with Ambassador Marjatta Rasi of Finland was screened before the panel discussion.

H.E. Kirsti Lintonen described the year 2005 as the first stock-taking year since the Monterrey Conference. Speaking from the European Union (EU) point of view (Finland will be taking over the EU presidency in July), Ambassador Lintonen informed the audience that currently 55 per cent of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) came from the EU countries. She also stressed that the EU community was strongly committed to full and timely implementation of dedicating 0.7 per cent of national incomes to ODA. Ambassador Lintonen called on developing countries to make their own commitments to achieve MDGs by 2015.

Alberto D’Alotto pointed out that at the time of the Monterrey Conference, Argentina was in the middle of a serious political, but mostly economical and financial crisis, and welcomed the idea of new partnerships based on mutual accountability to further international development. Minister D’Alotto encouraged the developing countries to take more responsibility in tackling corruption in order to attract foreign investment. He concluded by saying that in addition to the political will of governments, it was civil society and the NGOs that were crucial to implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

Oscar de Rojas started by saying that the key success of the Monterrey Conference was that it established new partnerships. He stressed the importance of all stakeholders working together on the six interrelated issues discussed at Monterrey. In his view, the holistic nature of the Monterrey Conference tied it all together. Mr. de Rojas pointed out the deep involvement of the private sector in the multi-stakeholder dialogues at the request of the General Assembly in recent years. He furthermore praised the fact that the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document opened with a chapter on development, which proved the commitment of Member States. A major drawback, however, was the fact that the Monterrey Conference was the only United Nations conference without a follow-up body. This is something his office would continue to call for. In conclusion, Mr. de Rojas urged the NGOs to keep up the good work and continue lobbying with the governments.

Philo Morris as the Chair of the NGO Committee on Financing for Development outlined the three main NGO groups collaborating on forwarding the Monterrey Consensus. She provided some examples of their work. She told the audience that most NGOs were not financial experts and they should therefore not be afraid of getting involved. She informed of a networking forum on financing for development on 23 April and urged everyone to participate.

The panel discussion was followed by a question-and-answer session.

A question was raised about the recent turn to the left in Latin American countries and its effect on the Monterrey Consensus. The panellists agreed that a big part of the Monterrey Consensus was about social justice, which made them expect the leftist governments to embrace it.

Another question was raised on whether the imbalance in trade between the EU and the Americas had any impact on developing countries. In response to that question, the speakers felt that many underdeveloped countries did not participate in trade at all. It was important to help them get involved in trade so they could be less economically vulnerable.

In a separate ad hoc briefing Jens Look, Director, Spinning Eye Ltd, presented "A Virtual Tour of the United Nations", a new interactive multimedia CD-ROM.

The briefing was well attended by about 100 representatives of NGOs, UN and Permanent Mission staff.

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