Monterrey puts in evidence the need for a consensus from governments of rich and poor countries, the civil society and donors to give a push to development

Representatives of 170 countries and 64 heads of states gathered in Monterrey (Mexico) to attend the International Conference on Financing for Development (13 - 22 March). The conference mandate was to promote international cooperation in mobilizing domestic resources, increasing private and international investment, strengthening official development assistance, increasing market access and ensuring fair trade, solving debt burden, and improving the coherence of global and regional financial structures and promoting fair representation of developing countries in global decision-making. It was a difficult encounter, preceded by a long prelude which only cleary showed the opposing opinions between developed and developing countries, the United States and Europe, the private sector and the civil society on what they viewed as priority issues for development.

The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, reaffirmed his expectations for the summit : "to meet the goals set at the Millennium Summit, it is necessary to double the official development assistance (ODA) and to bring it up from its current yearly USD 50 billion to USD 100 billion." A number which is still far from the UN target for ODA of 0.7% of national income promised by the developed countries. Only five countries (Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Luxembourg) are meeting the requirement. The European Union committed recently in Barcelona to donate 0,39% of its GDP to Official Development Aid. USA, that has pledged an increase of USD 10 billion during the next three years, gives currently 0,11% of its GDP to international cooperation.

But beyond numbers, the Monterrey Conference was faced with a sensitive agenda, items of which were interpreted differently by the civil society, governments, developed countries, member of the G-77 and UN agencies. It's much more a matter of determinating which role (and how) each component of financing for development should play: domestic resources, foreign investment, international trade, foreign debt and official aid.

These differences of opinions had some kind of consequences on the conference final document: the Monterrey Consensus, negotiated for several months and approved before the event, is a text which the international press did not hesitate to define as "wordy declarations with little commitment behind". This declaration illustrates the new orientation of cooperation, without touching upon the old problems of trade barriers, volatile capital mobility, and foreign debts. The consensus insists that heads of states and governments of developing countries engage themselves in the fight against corruption, good governance, promotion of the private sector, stable financial systems, and investment in infrastructure, and for the developed countries to commit more seriously to meet the 0.7% of their GNP for the official development assistance.

Gathered for a parallel event in the same city, 2000 NGOs demonstrated their opposition to the text in the Consensus, by saying that the Consensus " eludes all compromise and fails to address the structural problems needed for a sustainable globalization, sensitive to cultures and promoting equality. " NGOs called for support for a people-centered development and not market-centered.

At the same time, the private sector celebrated its own forum to study its implications in the Monterrey Consensus and the role enterprises must play in this new orientation for development.

During one of the inter-ministerial round table, several representatives voiced their support for a better coherence among development institutions and governments of developed countries. "Countries had done their homework in terms of developing their own policies. Donors should support and fund home-grown policies and programs- noted the Minister for Cooperation and Development of the Netherlands, Eveline Herfkens- Donors should support and fund home-grown policies and programs. Thay cannot continue to give with one hand and take more with the other."

Coherence, which encourages consensus among the different countries and actors, at the start of the engine of development. A goal, generally accepted, which is only possible through participatory dialogues. Structures like the UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security has full potential to act as a forum for this debate.