World Financial and Economic Crisis
and it’s impact on Development
by Noema CHAPLIN*
The High Level United Nations Conference “World Financial and Economic Crisis and it’s impact on Development” brought together Member States, Civil Society, Private Sector, Labor Organizations, International Financial Institutes, Academia to the United Nations on June 24-26, 2009. World Leaders, including more than 170 Members States, over 200 representatives of civil society organizations assessed the worst global economic downturn since the Great Depression and identified emergency and long term responses to soften it’s many impacts.
High Level event was structured around the following key topics:
- The Global economic crisis: it’s causes and multiple impacts;
- Impact of the crisis on employment, trade, investment and development, including progress on the Millenium Development Goals;
- Assessing existing responses to the crisis at international and national levels – limitations and best practices;
- Reform on the Global Economic Governance system;
- United Nations response to this crisis.
General Assembly President Miquel d”Escoto Brockman stressed : “…At this critical moment we must all join our efforts to prevent the global crisis with its myriad faces from turning into a social, environmental and humanitarian tragedy”
General Assembly President concerted action to tackle other crisis such as global warming, food insecurity, fuel and clean water shortages and humanitarian emergencies.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon highlighted that the current crisis is “not a cause for any one person, nation or group of nations. It is a challenge for us all. …The real impact of the crisis could stretch for years…”
Participants generally concurred on the multiple long term causes of the crisis, structural imbalances in the world largest economies, macroeconomic imbalances, etc. This crisis was not simply the result of developments in the corporate and financial sector, but had been in the making around 30 years.
Credit, official development assistance and other forms of financing had been cuted, especially for developing countries, which were projected to have net capital outflows of $700 Billion in 2009.
The Report of the Secretary General estimated that world income per capita could drop by 3.7 % in 2009. Unemployment rates are expected to rise to double digits in developed countries and tens of millions in developing countries will become unemployed.
United Nations Food Agencies reported that the number of the world’s hungry has surpassed 1 Billion!
The World Bank report on Global Development Finance expects private capital flows to developing countries to fall to $363 Billion this year, down from a peak of $1,2 Trillion (!) in 2007.
Employment, debt sustainability and labor market issues could be in the center of policy responses. Stimulus packages and incentives had generally been directed to sectors traditionally dominated by male employees, including car industry and finance.
The current crisis requires a joint global efforts and discuss a new world economic governance structure. UN can play a stronger coordinating role for the International Monetary Fund and other specialized bodies in dealing with tax, finance and the economy. It is important to not only promote recovery, but to lay the foundations for a more inclusive and sustainable pattern of growth and globalization in the future.
“We are all in this crisis together, while each country has primary responsibility for it’s own economic and development, we will coordinated and comprehensive global response to the crisis, to accordance with our respective abilities and responsibilities”- states the document, adopted by World Leaders at the Conference.
We need involve Media strategies and synergy working on finance, debt, trade, development, human rights, decent work, climate change and gender equality and coordinate political mobilization at the national level.
President GA Miquel d”Escoto Brockman stated that “it’s a short, a historic landmark – the beginning of an important necessary journey”.
Related:
- Perspective for Peace and Human Development
*Noema Chaplin (bio)
Political and Economic Scientist
Board Member CCC/UN
United States Servas, Inc. representative to the UN
