Globalization and Interdependence
About
In the span of one generation global economic interdependence has grown extraordinarily as a consequence of enormous technological progress and policies aimed at opening national economies internally and externally to competition.
Globalization has brought benefits and opportunities for many people in many parts of the world. However, many others have been excluded from its positive impact. Extreme poverty remains a daily reality for more than 1 billion people who subsist on less than $1 a day. More than 800 million people have too little to eat to meet their daily energy needs. Inequality between countries and within countries has also increased and global environmental risks have increasingly become a matter of global concern.
Promoting a coherent approach to policy making through greater coherence and co-ordination is essential to ensuring that the benefits of globalization are expanded and spread more broadly and that its potentially negative effects are diminished. The globalization of production, finance and information, among others, has not been matched by a corresponding reshaping of institutional mechanisms. Addressing this institutional and governance gap is the second great challenge of globalization. With its universal membership the General Assembly is particularly well placed to serve as a forum for building consensus on how to better manage globalization in order to promote development.
Globalization and interdependence has been included on the agenda of the Economic and Finance (Second) Committee of the General Assembly since 1999, following a High-Level Dialogue held on 17 and 18 September 1998 on the social and economic impact of globalization and interdependence and the policy implications. The General Assembly debates and in particular the special events of the General Assembly Second Committee have provided a forum for exchange of views among Member States and have helped to forge a global consensus on actions which need to be taken at the global, regional and national level to turn globalization into a positive force for development that benefits all. For its 2008 debate, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General in resolution 62/199 to prepare a report on the on the “Impact of globalization on the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals” under the broader theme of “Globalization and interdependence”.
Reports of the Secretary-General on Globalization and Interdependence prepared by the Office of ECOSOC Support and Coordination:
- A/63/333 - Impact of globalization on the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals
- A/62/303 Report of the Secretary-General on Globalization and Interdependence
- A/61/286 Report of the Secretary-General on Globalization and Interdependence - The Role of Innovation, Science and Technology (S&T) in Pursuing Development in the Context of Globalization
- A/60/322 Report of the Secretary-General on Globalization and Interdependence - Building Institutions for Achieving the Development Goals and Integrating in the Global Economy
- A/59/312 Report of the Secretary-General on globalization and interdependence
- A/58/394 Report of the Secretary-General on the role of the UN in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence.
- A/57/287 Report of the Secretary-General on the role of the UN in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/56/445 Report of the Secretary-General on the role of the UN in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/55/381 Report of the Secretary-General on the role of the UN in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/54/358 Report of the Secretary-General on the role of the UN in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
General Assembly Resolutions on Globalization and Interdependence:
- A/62/199 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/61/424/Add.1 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/60/204 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/59/240 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/58/225 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/57/274 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/56/209 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/55/212 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/54/231 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
- A/53/169 Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
General Assembly Special Events on Globalization and Interdependence organized by OESC:
2007
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7 November 2007, Panel discussion on the “
Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy: The value-added of multistakeholder cooperation in the governance of globalization”, Co-Chairs: Erkki Tuomioja, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Finland and Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga, Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations; Moderator: Alex Taylor, BBC; Panelists: Mary Robinson, President, Ethical Globalisation Initiative (NYC); William Pace, Executive Director, World Federalist Movement, Institute of Global Policy, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and OESC
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2 November 2007, Panel discussion on “Eradicating Poverty through Enterprise” with Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan, Chairman, National Rural Support Programme, Pakistan; Prof. Aneel Karnani, Associate Professor of Strategy; Stephen M. Ross, School of Business, University of Michigan; Ms. Shulamit Ferdman, Director, MCTC Director of Microenterprise Development Courses, Haïfa, Israel; Ms. Sheri Willoughby, Senior Manager, Markets and Enterprise Program, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA; Mr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Chair);
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25 October 2007, Panel discussion on “Bringing the Doha Development Round to a successful conclusion" with Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization, Geneva; Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Geneva;
- 17 October 2007, Keynote address by Dr. Edmund Phelps, Department of Economics, Columbia University, (2006 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics)
2006
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30 October 2006, “Negotiating Doha”, keynote addresses by Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization, Geneva; Mr. Gary Hufbauer, Reginald Jones Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics, Washington D.C.; Dr. Carlos M. Correa, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
18 October 2006, “
Social Policy in an Era of Globalisation”, keynote addresses by Professor Laura Tyson, Dean London Business School; Professor Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University, New York and
Dr. Michal Rutkowski, Director, Human Development Department Middle East and North African Region, The World Bank
2005
2004
- 1 October 2004, "Development and Conflict", Paul Collier, Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, Oxford University
2003
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