1. Organization of the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development

Wednesday, 29 October 2003
Morning
Plenary meeting to be held at 10 a.m. to formally open the High-level Dialogue

Immediately following the adjournment of the plenary meeting
First set of four ministerial-level round tables to be held in parallel

Afternoon
Second set of four ministerial-level round tables to be held in parallel

Thursday, 30 October 2003
Morning
Plenary meeting to be held at 10 a.m. to hear statements from the major institutional stakeholders

Immediately following the adjournment of the plenary meeting
The Informal Interactive Dialogue will be held.

Afternoon
Continuation of the Informal Interactive Dialogue

Immediately following the conclusion of the Informal Interactive Dialogue Plenary meeting to be held to formally close the High-level Dialogue.

 

2. Plenary meetings

The plenary meeting on 29 October in the morning is expected to be of short duration. In addition to brief opening remarks by the President of the General Assembly, the Assembly will take up any remaining organizational matter.

At the plenary meeting on 30 October in the morning statements will be made by the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme as the Chairman of the United Nations Development Group, as well as one representative of the regional development banks.

At the plenary meeting to be held on 30 October in the afternoon immediately upon the conclusion of the Informal Interactive Dialogue, the President of the General Assembly will make a concluding statement and formally close the High-level Dialogue.

 

3. Informal Interactive Dialogue

The Informal Interactive Dialogue will commence on 30 October, immediately following the adjournment of the opening plenary meeting. It will re-start at 3 p.m.

To allow a free interactive discussion, the President will call upon speakers in the order in which they will signify their desire to speak, taking the principle of precedence into account, and he will be also free to call upon any representative including the representatives of the regional and international intergovernmental organizations and representatives of the civil society and the business sector.
Participants will be invited to speak from their seats and are strongly encouraged to avoid reading from written statements. One representative from civil society and one representative from the business sector will be selected by accredited participants among themselves to participate in the interactive dialogue.

 

4. Ministerial round tables

The composition of the eight round tables will be subject to the principle of equitable geographical distribution. Thus, for each round table, the maximum number of participants from each regional group will be as follows:

(a) African States: seven Member States
(b) Asian States: seven Member States
(c) Eastern European States: three Member States
(d) Latin American and Caribbean States: five Member States
(e) Western European and other States: four Member States

Member States that are not members of any of the regional groups may participate in round tables.

Inscriptions in the round tables will commence on 2 September 2003 and will be on a first-come first-served basis, on the understanding that the total number of Member States participating in each round table shall not exceed 24.

The Holy See, in its capacity as observer State, and Palestine, in its capacity as observer, may participate in round tables.

Each round table will also include the following participants: five representatives of observers, entities of the United Nations system and intergovernmental organizations other than observers; three representatives of civil society; and three representatives of the private sector. Their distribution in each round table will follow the practice used at the International Conference on Financing for Development.

The first set of four ministerial level round tables will start immediately after the formal opening of the High-level Dialogue on 29 October in the morning. The theme of the first set of four round tables will be "The regional dimensions of the implementation of the results of the International Conference on Financing for Development". The heads of the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank will be invited by the President of the 57th General Assembly to join as co-chairs with five co-chairpersons designated by the regional groups.

The second set of four ministerial level round tables will be held in the afternoon of 29 October. The theme of the second set of four round tables will be an exploration of "The link between the progress in the implementation of the agreements and commitments reached at the International Conference on Financing for Development and the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, in particular those contained in the Millennium Declaration, and the promotion of sustainable development, sustained economic growth and the eradication of poverty with a view to achieving an equitable global economic system". The heads of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization will be invited by the President of the 57th General Assembly to join as co-chairs with five co-chairpersons designated by the regional groups.

If any of the above mentioned representatives of a major institution is not available to co-chair, the President of the General Assembly may designate representatives of other relevant intergovernmental organizations as alternative co-chairs.

The co-chairs of the ministerial round tables will be asked by the President of the 58th General Assembly to prepare their summary immediately after the first day of the High-Level Dialogue in order to allow the President to incorporate these summaries in his statement at the concluding plenary meeting.

 

5. Engagement with regional and international intergovernmental organizations

The Financing for Development Office (FFDO) will inform the heads of relevant regional and international intergovernmental organizations about the High-Level Dialogue and invite those which do not have the status of observers with the General Assembly or those not already accredited as intergovernmental organizations to the International Conference on Financing for Development to apply for special accreditation to the High-level Dialogue. The FFDO will indicate that requests for such accreditation should be submitted by the end of July 2003. The President of the 57th session of the General Assembly intends to submit these requests for the approval of the General Assembly by mid-September 2003.

 

6. Engagement with civil society and the business sector entities

The FFDO will inform the relevant civil society organizations and business entities about the High-Level Dialogue. Those civil society organizations and business sector entities that are not in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council or were not accredited to the International Conference on Financing for Development may apply for special accreditation to the High-Level Dialogue. The FFDO will indicate that requests for such accreditation should be submitted by the end of July 2003. The President of the 57th session of the General Assembly intends to submit these requests for the approval of the General Assembly by mid-September. The information needed for these applications, based on GA resolutions 54/279 and 55/245B, is available from the FFDO and posted on the FFD website (www.un.org/esa/ffd).

 

7. Documentation

The substantive documentation for the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development consists of two reports of the Economic and Social Council, two reports of the Secretary-General and an issues paper containing an annotated agenda and programme of work to assist in organizing the Dialogue. The ECOSOC reports are the report of the President of ECOSOC on its annual special high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization held in 2003 on 14 April and the relevant parts of the 2003 report of ECOSOC on its actions on financing for development matters at its substantive session. The reports of the Secretary-General are his annual report on the follow-up efforts to the commitments of the International Conference on Financing for Development and his report on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. The Secretary-General's report on the follow-up to the ICFFD is being prepared in collaboration with all the major institutional stakeholders.
The co-chairmen of the round tables will be asked to submit their summaries of the round tables to the President of the General Assembly. The summary of the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, including the summaries of the round tables as well as those of the Hearings with civil society and the business sector, will constitute the report of the President of the General Assembly on the High-Level Dialogue, which will be issued as a document of the General Assembly.
The report of the President will serve as an input to the subsequent consideration in the Second Committee at the 58th session of a resolution on the implementation of the outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development.

 

8. Hearings

The High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development will be preceded on 28 October with a half-day hearing with civil society and a half-day hearing with the business sector accredited to the High-Level Dialogue. The organization of the Hearings with civil society and of the Hearings with the business sector will be coordinated by the FFDO. The President of the General Assembly will chair both sets of Hearings. As the Hearings are being held on the day immediately preceding the High-level Dialogue, the summaries of both Hearings will be incorporated into the report of the President of the General Assembly on the High-Level Dialogue.