Special High-level Meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

27 April 2009, New York

The Special high-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was held on Monday, 27 April 2009, at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The overall theme of the meeting was "Coherence, coordination and cooperation in the context of the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development."

The meeting focused on the following sub-themes:

1. Addressing the impact of the global financial and economic crisis on development, including issues related to the international financial and monetary architecture and global governance structures; and
   
   
2. Strengthening of the intergovernmental inclusive process to carry out the financing for development follow-up.

The format of the meeting included a short opening plenary with brief statements by the President of ECOSOC, the UN Secretary-General, the heads of relevant intergovernmental bodies and other senior officials. The meeting was organized in the form of two thematic debates on the above topics, which were held consecutively in an informal plenary setting. The morning session also featured a presentation on the joint World Bank/IMF flagship publication "Global Monitoring Report 2009 - A Development Emergency". Closing remarks by the President of the Council concluded the meeting.

The meeting was open to participation by all Members and Observers of ECOSOC. All intergovernmental organizations that have observer status with the General Assembly and all non-governmental organizations that are in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and all intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations accredited to the FfD process were invited to attend.