The Monterrey Consensus The Conference on Financing for Development

Résumé du document

The International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) took place between the 18 and 22 of March 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico. More than 170 countries adopted a commitment designed to "eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development" in the world's poorest countries. The Outcome Document (the "Monterrey Consensus") that was already been agreed at the final Preparatory Committee meeting in New York in January 2002 was formally adopted at the Conference, and the discussions focused essentially on how to implement the Consensus. The aim of the Conference had been to examine the internationally agreed Millennium development goals decade, and especially the ambitious goal of halving the number of people living in absolute poverty by 2015. This Consensus reflected a number of critical commitments "to address the challenges of financing for development around the world, particularly in developing countries." This conference wanted to put development at the centre of financial policy as Consensus emphasized the fact that current aid levels will not suffice to finance the MDGs.

Extraits

[...] Does it have managed to bring a change and answer the challenges of financing for development? The aim of the Monterrey Conference A - Conference of the change” The ODAs' issue II/ The Monterey Consensus: “recasting neoliberal dominance in the south”? A - Washington Consensus in a sombrero” (John Foster) B - Challenges to developing countries and to industrialized countries: improving coordination Sources SOEDERBERG Suzanne, Recasting neoliberal dominance in the global South? A critique of the Monterrey Consensus, in Alternatives, Number July-Sept RADKE Detlef, The Monterrey Consensus The Conference on Financing for development, in German Development Institute, March 2002 ORBIE Jan, EU Development Policy Integration on the Monterrey Process: a Leading and Benevolent Identity? [...]

[...] To get these funds, the Monterrey Conference was organized. So the Monterrey Conference aimed at increasing private foreign direct investment fighting corruption; granting better market access for developing countries; and strengthening international tax cooperation. B - Challenges to developing countries / to industrialized countries : improving coordination The Monterrey Conference aimed at establishing new basis and new partnership between industrialized and developing countries. In Monterrey was reaffirmed the same demands towards the South: governments must create stable political, economic and social conditions in their own countries, good governance and combating poverty must be he goal by which government action must be guided. [...]

[...] The Monterrey Consensus tried to answer this question of financing Development. The Monterrey conference certainly cannot be classed as an historic conference but is has brought some changes: during the Conference, the governments of South countries accepted that are primarily responsible for their own economic and social development. And the Consensus brought some new fresh actions for example, to increase ODAs effectiveness. To Kofi Annan, the Monterrey Consensus definitely took into account the real problems for financing for development and said about it we live up to promises it contains and continue to work on it together, it can mark a real turning point in the lives of poor people all over the world”. [...]

[...] Another criticize was about the fact that there were no negotiations during the conference: it seemed to be a “done deal” in advance as (as I said in the introduction) the final consensus was already been agreed at the final Preparatory Committee meeting in New York 2 months before the conference. As we saw in the first part, Monterrey reaffirmed the necessity of having free-market economic system. This is a message considerable: without democracy, the rule of law, economic reforms and stability-oriented macro policies, the fundamental financial straits of the developing countries cannot be overcome. [...]

[...] So the principal task of The Monterrey Conference was to find ways to finance programmes and policies of the Millennium Development Goals and aimed at establishing more concrete actions rather than declaration. One of these concrete actions seemed to be the Official Development Assistance. Indeed, in Monterrey was expressed the necessity to increase the amount of these ODAs we're gonna see it in a second part; and we're also going to find out that the outcome document of Monterrey was definitely criticized for not bringing a clear change industrialized. II/ The Monterey Consensus: “recasting neoliberal dominance in the south”? [...]