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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>URGENT REQUEST FOR ENDORSEMENT – Letter on UNCTAD XIII <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Dear All,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>There is a large fight brewing over global economic governance issues right now,</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> as the OECD countries are working to remove the mandate to work on macroeconomic and finance issues from the only multilateral economic agency that works from a development perspective, which is the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Evidently the IMF, OECD, WTO, and G20 are doing such a fine job and managing the global economy that there’s no room for an alternative research and viewpoint. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The UNCTAD XIII conference will take place starting this weekend, April 21-26 in Doha, Qatar.<b> </b></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Governments have been negotiating the draft text for the conference’s declaration, which will set the stage for UNCTAD’s work for the next four years, on issues from trade and finance to investment and debt; from agricultural commodities and employment to financial regulation and climate change. And in every instance possible, the developed countries are seeking to reduce the mandate and scope of UNCTAD, and to impose a pro-“Washington Consensus” mandate - on the only multilateral economic institution that works from a development perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>THUS, the civil society organizations which have been following this issue closely are requesting the support of other national organizations to push back against this outrageous effort,<b> <u>by sending a clear message to governments around the world on the declaration.</u></b> The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Public Citizen, among other US groups, have endorsed. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>PLEASE SEND YOUR ENDORSEMENT OF THE LETTER (below and attached) to <a href="mailto:djames@cepr.net">djames@cepr.net</a> ASAP. We will be releasing it at the UNCTAD meeting on SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>. I am including three articles about the issue for your information. I know this isn’t strictly within CTC’s field, but I thought many of you would want to support it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Thank you,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Deborah James<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Our World Is Not for Sale network<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Strengthen, Don’t Weaken, UNCTAD’s Role in Global Governance: Towards Sustainable and Inclusive Development, Not More Crises <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sunday, April 22, 2012<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>To: Governments and Negotiators at the UNCTAD XIII in Doha, Qatar<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Since the onset of the global financial and economic crises, UNCTAD has played an important role in identifying the key causes of the crises, assisting developing countries in seeking solutions to the impacts of the crises, and advocating for the reform of global economic and finance policies and governance in order to prevent similar crises from recurring. These are all key roles that no other multilateral economic institution has fulfilled from a development perspective. In fact, UNCTAD is well known for having predicted the crisis in advance, a fact that is to be commended, particularly given its paucity of resources compared to institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which failed to do so. This prescience builds on a long history of <span lang=EN-GB>UNCTAD’s contributions to development-oriented policies such as the Generalized System of Preferences, 0.7 percent GNI aid targets, debt cancellation, international commodity agreements, special and differential treatment at the WTO, and policy space, among many others. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Despite these important contributions, throughout the negotiations leading up to UNCTAD XIII, the developed countries have tried to rescind the important mandate of UNCTAD to work on issues of global macroeconomic and finance policies, and particularly to <i>participate in global governance</i> on these issues, which are so essential to global prosperity. In addition, the EU and “JUSSCKANNZ” (Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Lichtenstein) have sought impose a mandate on UNCTAD to push developing countries to adopt investor protection and trade policies in accordance with the corporate interests of developed countries, rather than in the interests of the successful use of trade and investment for the purposes of sustainable and inclusive growth within developing countries themselves.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>The outcomes of the UNCTAD XIII conference in Doha, Qatar, April 21-26, 2012, must contribute to the transformations of the global economy that are necessary for true inclusive and sustainable development for all:<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><ol style='margin-top:0in' start=1 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3'>It is essential that the 2012 UNCTAD Declaration affirms, rather than retreats from, the progress made at the UNCTAD XII in Accra. This includes an agreement on the need for sustainable as well as inclusive growth, as well as the need for UNCTAD to work on the inter-related issues of finance, technology, investment, and sustainable development, among other key issues. <o:p></o:p></li></ol><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:5.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><ol style='margin-top:0in' start=2 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3'>The collective policy analysis must recognize the root causes of the global crisis, its impacts, and mandate a role for UNCTAD to continue its excellent economic and finance research and critical analysis, in order to truly assist developing countries in creating solutions to the crises – rather than pushing them to implement more of the same deregulatory trade and investment policies that led to the global crises in the first place. <span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></li></ol><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:5.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><ol style='margin-top:0in' start=3 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3'>Finally, the role of UNCTAD as an alternative voice to the “Washington Consensus” paradigm – being the only multilateral economic institution focused on development – must be strengthened vis-à-vis the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, and the G20 in global economic governance decision-making. <span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></li></ol><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In order the accomplish these transformations, we call on developed countries to abandon the pressure on the G77 negotiators, and instead work together with developing countries to ensure a forward-looking mandate for UNCTAD which must, among other issues:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Specifically recognize the origins, spread, and impacts of the global crises, and mandate a role for UNCTAD which includes assisting developing countries as well as advocacy in the global governance arena in favor of sustainable and inclusive growth;<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Affirm the key role of UNCTAD’s research and analysis on macroeconomic and financial issues, including <span lang=EN-GB>exchange rates and global imbalances, as well as countercyclical fiscal policies that have helped stabilize economies during the global crisis.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Include analysis that recognizes both the costs as well as opportunities of trade, and directs UNCTAD to assist developing countries in utilizing trade for their development, rather than just advising them to join the WTO and other “free” trade agreements.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Mandate UNCTAD to determine the contours of a global trade framework that is truly development-oriented, and thus to identify the changes to the existing WTO and ongoing negotiations that are necessary to ensure that governments have the policy space to use trade for sustainable and inclusive development, and to regulate in the public interest. <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Affirm the importance of adequate regulation and supervision of financial markets, particularly with regard to crisis prevention and resolution, and mandate UNCTAD to play an active role in ensuring strong national and global financial regulatory rules.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Acknowledge the problems of investor protection provisions in trade and investment agreements and mandate a role for UNCTAD in helping developing countries design investment policies that will benefit their sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as advocating for development-oriented best practices in investment policies globally. <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Recognize the major impacts of the crisis on employment, and mandate UNCTAD to work on the national level with developing countries in favor of job creation, and on the international level in favor of the Decent Work Agenda in concert with the ILO.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Reassert the need to find solutions to the problem of volatility in the global commodities markets and the need for fair trade in global agricultural trade towards Food Security and Food Sovereignty, and mandate a research and advocacy role for UNCTAD on these issues, together with the FAO and particularly the Committee on Food Security. <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Affirm developed countries’ commitments in ODA and Aid for Trade, as well as UNCTAD’s key role in identifying the need for and developing mechanisms towards a sustainable sovereign debt work-out mechanism, bringing together diverse stake holders to create Responsible Lending and Borrowing principles and continued efforts on debt cancellation.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo8'>Set forth clear analysis of the impact of climate change on sustainable and inclusive development, and mandate UNCTAD to contribute to the<b> </b>global effort to realize the objectives of sustainable and inclusive development vis-à-vis climate change. <o:p></o:p></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>These are but a few of the key issues that should form the foundation of the official declaration that is to guide UNCTAD’s role over the next four years. More comprehensive analysis on each of these issues is detailed in the official Civil Society Statement of the UNCTAD XIII.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In light of the rhetoric surrounding the commitment to a more open, democratic, and participatory system of global governance that have become commonplace in recent years, we find the return to the semi-colonial approach of the developed countries in the UNCTAD negotiations outrageous. We commend the former leadership and staff of UNCTAD who spoke up against this unacceptable situation last week, as well as the G77 for their statement that called the EU and JUSSCKANNZ to account for their intransigent positions. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As representatives of developed and developing countries of myriad stages of development, we know that our own prosperity is deeply entwined to the sustainable development of all, and thus we call on all governments of the North and South to join together, to affirm a strong role for UNCTAD in working towards sustainable and inclusive development for all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Signed, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><i>International Organizations<o:p></o:p></i></p><ol style='margin-top:0in' start=1 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Africa Trade Network (ATN)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Asia Europe People's Forum (AEPF)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Asia Indigenous Women's Network (AIWN)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE>Convergencia de Movimientos de los Pueblos de las Américas (COMPA)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>European Attac Network<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>European Coordination Via Campesina<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE>Federación Latinoamericana de Trabajadores de las Industrias (FLATIC)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span class=apple-style-span>Friends of the Earth International</span> (FOEI)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Hemispheric Social Alliance/Alianza Social Continental (HSA/ASC)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Jubilee South - Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE>Latin American Association of Micro, Small, and Medium Businesses (Asociación Latinoamericana de Micro, Pequeños y Medianos Empresarios, ALAMPYME)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE>Mesa de Coordinación Latinoamericana de Comercio Justo <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE style='color:black'>Movimiento Mesoamericano contra el Modelo Extractivo Minero (M4)</span><span lang=ES-VE><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Nord-Sud XXI<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE>R</span><span lang=ES-VE>ed de Acción en Plaguicidas y sus Alternativas de América Latina (RAPAL)</span><span lang=ES-VE><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Tax Justice Network <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Third World Network (TWN)<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'>Third World Network - Africa<o:p></o:p></li></ol><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><i>National Organizations<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>26.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>11.11.11, Belgium<span lang=ES-VE><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>27.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>ACORD<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>28.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (AMAP), Mexico<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>29.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Philippines<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>30.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Alliance Sud, Switzerland<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>31.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN-GB>Alternative Information & Development Centre (AIDC), South Africa </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>32.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruthidarula Union (APVVU), India <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>33.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Attac Austria<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>34.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Attac Germany<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>35.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Attac Japan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>36.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Banana Link, UK</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>37.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bharatiya Krishak Samaj (BKS), India<o:p></o:p></span></p><ol style='margin-top:0in' start=38 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE>Bia´lii, Asesoría e Investigación, A.C, Mexico</span><span lang=ES-VE style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></li></ol><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>39.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Campaign for a Life of Dignity for ALL (KAMP), Philippines </span></strong> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>40.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Campaign for the Welfare State, Norway<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>41.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Caribbean Policy Development Centre, Barbados<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>42.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>Center of Concern, US<span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>43.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Centro de Formación e Investigación. </span>Municipal, A.C. (CEFIMAC), Mexico<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>44.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>CNCD-11.11.11, Belgium<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>45.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Comhlámh, Ireland <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>46.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services, Philippines<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>47.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>48.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Coordination Climate Justice Sociale, Switzerland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>49.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Council of Canadians<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>50.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>ECA Watch Austria <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>51.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Ecologistas en Acción, Spain<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>52.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>EcoNexus, UK<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>53.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>54.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>Ecuador Decide <span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>55.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Enda Tiers Monde, Senegal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>56.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Fair, Italy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>57.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Faith Action Network of Washington, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>58.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Fastenopfer Switzerland <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>59.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Foreign Policy in Focus, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>60.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES style='font-size:12.0pt'>Foro Ciudadano de Participación por la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos (FOCO), Argentina </span><span lang=ES-VE style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>61.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE style='font-size:12.0pt'>Foro Latinoamericano del Trabajo, Innovación e Integración (FLATI), Argentina<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>62.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Forum Social Lémanique (FSL), Switzerland<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>63.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Friends of the Earth, England Wales and Northern Ireland (FoE EWNI)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>64.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>Fundación Promoción Humana, Argentina<span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>65.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Ghana Trades Union Congress <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>66.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>GLOBAL 2000/Friends of the Earth Austria <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>67.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Hecho en Bs As – empresa social, Argentina<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>68.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Ibon International, Philippines <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>69.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Indonesia for Global Justice<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>70.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Information Group on Latin America (IGLA), Austria<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>71.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>72.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Institute for Economic Research on Innovation, South Africa<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>73.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>International Forum on Globalization, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>74.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>75.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Jubilee Debt Campaign, UK<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>76.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Jubilee Germany<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>77.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Jubilee Justice Task Force of the United Church of Christ, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>78.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Jubilee USA Network<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>79.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre, Nigeria<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>80.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>81.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Missionary Oblates United Sates Province, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>82.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (National Network of Farmers Groups in Tanzania, MVIWATA)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>83.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>84.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>National Labour and Economic Development Institute, South Africa <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>85.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), Canada<o:p></o:p></p><ol style='margin-top:0in' start=86 type=1><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'> <span lang=ES-VE>Otros Mundos AC/Amigos de la Tierra, Mexico<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE> Polaris Institute, Canada<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><span lang=ES-VE> Public Citizen, US<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>89.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES style='color:black'>Rede Brasileira Pela Integração dos Povos (</span><span lang=ES-VE>Brazilian Network for Peoples’ Integration, </span><span lang=ES style='color:black'>REBRIP), Brazil</span><span lang=ES> </span><span lang=ES-VE><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>90.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Red Mexicana de Acción frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC), Mexico<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>91.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Red Peruana de Comercio Justo y Consumo Ético, Peru<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=ES-VE><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>92.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=ES-VE>Sahabat Alam Malaysia<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>93.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Sierra Club, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>94.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Sisters of the Holy Cross Congregation Justice Committee, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>95.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>SWISSAID, Swiss Foundation for Development Cooperation, Switzerland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>96.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Tax Research UK<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>97.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The Association of Non-Governmental Organisations in The Gambia (TANGO)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>98.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The Berne Declaration, Switzerland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>99.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The Oakland Institute, US<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>100.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>TPPWatch, New Zealand<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>101.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Trades Union Congress, UK<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>102.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Transnational Institute, Netherlands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>103.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>VOICE, Bangladesh<span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>104.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Worldview-The Gambia<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>105.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>X minus Y Solidarity Fund, the Netherlands<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo9'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>106.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Youths Action, UK<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-indent:-22.5pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:40.5pt;text-align:center;text-indent:-22.5pt'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/ND17Dj06.html"><span style='font-weight:normal'>http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/ND17Dj06.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p><p class=MsoNormal><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Apr 17, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>The G-77 awakes<br></b>By Vijay Prashad <br><br>The crisis continues at the preparatory conference for the 13th meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to be held from April 21-26 in Doha, Qatar. <br><br>It began when the North, led by the US delegation and the Swiss ambassador, refused to allow the United Nations agency any latitude for a discussion on the toxicity of finance and its reform. At the 4th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in New Delhi last month, the powerful "locomotives of the South" promised to back the UNCTAD summit, and implicitly offered support for UNCTAD's critical position on finance-driven globalization. <br><br>A broadside and press conference from 49 former staff members of UNCTAD, including its former secretary general, put on record their frustrations with the North for its obstinacy. Toward the end of last week, it appeared as if these criticisms were to be brushed off as the irritations of mosquitoes. And then the slumbering "G-77 + China" awoke. <br><br>At the founding conference of the UNCTAD in 1964, the bloc of developing nations issued a Declaration of the 77 (their number at the time; there are now 132). The main thrust of the declaration was a pledge from the 77 countries to work together for a new international division of labor. Political colonialism had substantially been invalidated, but the inheritances of colonialism in the economic and social domain lingered - one-crop economies and economies premised on the comparative advantage of low wage costs doomed these countries to a second-class position. <br><br>In October 1967, the G-77 emerged as a formal institution, and its Charter of Algiers established its basic outlook: to challenge the import barriers in the North and to uproot the unfavorable terms of trade that privileged the products of the North against those of the South. The high point of the G-77 came in 1973, when the UN General Assembly voted in a resolution for a New International Economic Order (NIEO). <br><br>Faced with the NIEO, the advanced industrial countries created the Group of Seven (1974) and a political process to undermine the G-77 and the NIEO. The debt crisis of the 1980s weakened the South, which was now unable to push its political agenda. The G-77 withered (it was here that China joined, so that the group is now formally G-77 + China). By the 1990s, as the UNCTAD secretary general of the time, Rubens Ricupero, remembers it, the North pushed for the creation of the World Trade Organization (1994) with the hope that this would make UNCTAD irrelevant. <br><br>"When I arrived at UNCTAD in 1995," Ricupero told IPS, "there was already a conspiracy afoot by the 'usual suspects,' the rich countries - not to change the mandate as they want to now, but to simply suppress the organization that they have never accepted since its inception." The G-77's weakness mirrored that of UNCTAD. <br><br>The kerfuffle caused by the former UNCTAD staffers last week was heightened by a statement circulated around the UNCTAD preparatory conference called "Friend of Development," authored by 10 influential states from the South. They wanted UNCTAD to directly deal with questions of financial reform. <br><br>The Europeans and the US seemed undaunted by these challenges. They went into a final meeting with the G-77. The Swiss Ambassador Luzius Wasescha had earlier pointed out that his theory for the current UNCTAD was to stonewall the South and "create chaos" in the mechanism to draft a consensus document. This sentiment was unchanged in the final meeting. <br><br>A member of the G-77 delegation told me that the Thai ambassador who heads G-77, Pisnau Chanvitan, was distressed by the attitude of the North. Either the G-77 would have to join the public declaration inaugurated by the ex-UNCTAD staffers or it would lose its dignity. On April 13, the G-77 released a forthright and unexpected statement that mirrored the ex-staffers' cry from the heart. <br><br>The April 13 statement from the G-77 marks a major break from statements released over the past several decades. The first paragraph uses the word "candid" twice and "candor" once, emphasizing the need for the kind of plain speaking that has eluded the G-77 since 1975. The statement makes two broad points, one about the process and the other about the substantive issues at hand. <br><br><b><i>Process:</i></b> Chanvitan's statement complains that the G-77 has tried its best to be flexible with the negotiation, but "perhaps our constructiveness was viewed as weakness, and our accommodation viewed as capitulation". The North has "regressed to behavior perhaps more appropriate to the founding days of UNCTAD, when Countries of the North felt they could dictate and marginalize developing countries from informed decision-making." <br><br>One Northern ambassador's role was singled out for being "shameful and reminiscent of the darkest days of the North-South divide". <br><br>Remarkably, Chanvitan noted that the preparatory conference has seen "behavior that seems to indicate a desire for the dawn of a new neo-colonialism". Such language has not been heard from the G-77 in decades. "Perhaps, in our desire for consensus," Chanvitan notes, "we have accommodated too much and this good faith was misunderstood, and abused. Perhaps this should end now." <br><br><b><i>Issues:</i></b> The bulk of the statement from Chanvitan is about the problems of process. The North is not blocking UNCTAD XIII without reason. The main issue before UNCTAD and the other meetings of this summer (Rio +20 and the G-20) is the question of financial reform and finance-led globalization. Chanvitan hopes that UNCTAD XIII can contribute to a new beginning. The basis of the new start will be "development-centered globalization" which "presents an opportunity to articulate a vision of development based on equality, based on a differentiated approach to development, and based on equal respect for all." <br><br>Despite its bluster, the G-77 seems prepared to accommodate the North. Chanvitan writes that the G-77 could adopt "the condensed text" that largely reflects the wishes of the North, with some input from the South. Over this weekend, the North has gone into a huddle. It is likely that they will return on Monday prepared to fight tooth and nail for the final outcome to reflect their vision. <br><br>If this is the case, one would have to see whether the G-77 has the wherewithal to stand firm on this newly articulated foundation. If the G-77 folds, this narrow opening at the UNCTAD XIII will close and we shall be back, as Chanvitan put it, "to the darkest days of the North-South divide". <br><br><b><i>Vijay Prashad</i></b><i> is Professor and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, United States. This spring he will publish two books: </i>Arab Spring, Libyan Winter <i>(AK Press) and </i>Uncle Swami: South Asians in America Today <i>(New Press). He is the author of </i>Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World <i>(New Press), which won the 2009 Muzaffar Ahmed Book Prize. </i><br><br>(Copyright 2012 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)<o:p></o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><a href="http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/wto.info/2012/twninfo120412.htm">http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/wto.info/2012/twninfo120412.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>United Nations: Battle to save UNCTAD's mandate<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Geneva, 16 Apr (Martin Khor*) -- On the eve of its thirteenth session, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Ministerial conference known as UNCTAD XIII, a major battle is under way at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>UNCTAD to preserve its mandate to work on key areas, especially<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>macro-economic and finance issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>A serious impasse emerged last week in the preparatory committee of UNCTAD<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>XIII, which is tasked with preparing the draft outcome document that Ministers are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>scheduled to adopt at the end of UNCTAD XIII.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>While the previous two or three conferences were rather tame affairs, it looks like<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>UNCTAD XIII (whose general theme is development-centred globalization) will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>be fiery, with the organisation's future scope of work and influence at stake.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>UNCTAD was set up in 1964 to support developing countries to strengthen their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>weak position in international economic structures, and to design national<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>development strategies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>It became a kind of secretariat on behalf of developing countries, providing a small <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>pro-development balance to the huge organisations dominated by the developed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>countries, such as the OECD, the IMF and World Bank.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>In the past two decades, however, the developed countries have tried to curb the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>pro-South orientation of the UNCTAD secretariat and its many reports. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>inter-governmental discussions became less significant, while UNCTAD's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>pro-development mission was increasingly challenged by the developed countries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This unhealthy trend seemed to have subsided in the past decade, but in the past<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>two months, the meetings in Geneva to prepare for UNCTAD XIII, some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>developed countries have reportedly attempted to dilute the areas of future work of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>UNCTAD, to the frustration of the G77 and China.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Last week's meetings at the preparatory committee ended in a near crisis, with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>countries unable to agree on how to proceed with some key issues and with a draft<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>of the outcome document.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>At the committee's meeting on 13 April, a major dispute arose over whether the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Doha outcome should "reaffirm" the mandate given to UNCTAD at the previous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>session (UNCTAD XII held in Accra in 2008, which adopted the Accra Accord).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The G77 and China proposed reaffirming the Accra Accord, and normally this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>would have been accepted as a matter of routine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>However, a group of developed countries opposed the term "reaffirm". Instead,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>they wanted language to "build on" the Accra accord.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This caused frustration to the members of the G77 and China, which saw the move<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>as an attempt to take away some of the issues that UNCTAD is working on.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Refusal to reaffirm the Accra accord seemed to be another measure to chip away at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>the influence of UNCTAD and its support for development.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Speaking on behalf of the G77 and China, Ambassador Pisanu Chanvitan of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Thailand regretted that the accommodative stance of the group had been viewed as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>weakness or capitulation. (See separate story on G77 and China statement.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The group has hoped that the global economic and financial crisis marks once and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>for all the end of the bad old days, and perhaps the dawn of an international regime<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>of global economic governance based on the highest principles and ideals of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>United Nations, including sovereignty, equality, and mutual respect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Instead, we see behaviour that seems to indicate a desire for the dawn of a new<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>neocolonialism. We cannot, we will not, accept this."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The G77 and China believed that UNCTAD XIII can contribute to a new<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>beginning, and that the theme of development-centred globalization could<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>articulate a vision of development based on equality and equal respect for all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Unfortunately, the developing countries feel increasingly marginalised by our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>partners especially when they seem to deny us our own priorities."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Thai Ambassador stressed that the Accra Accord must be reaffirmed. And<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>while the G77 and China had already made "incredible compromises", it now<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>proposed that at the minimum the Doha conference could adopt the compromise<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>text that the President of the Trade and Development Board (Ambassador Mothae<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Maruping of Lesotho) had issued in the first week of April.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This was a 22-page President's text that had drawn from a thick compilation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>document containing proposed language from all members.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The G77 and China said its development partners (referring to developed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>countries) may mistakenly think that the question is whether there will be an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>outcome document, and added that: "Let us assure our partners that there will be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>an outcome document", but the question is whether there will be a positive spirit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>that leads to a consensus document.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>In response, a group of developed countries regretted that they were being painted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>as being on the "bad side" and asked that their proposals be not "engineered always<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>as a weapon in a North-South conflict."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The impasse, so close to the start of UNCTAD XIII, has given rise to discussions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>on whether the Doha conference will result in a consensus-based outcome, or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>whether the developing countries would resort to proposing a vote on a document<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>it puts forward. A vote on a G77 and China document is considered a last resort,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>since the normal procedure is to adopt a consensus document.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>It would appear that whether the Doha outcome will reaffirm the Accra Accord has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>become the most important political issue at this point of the negotiations. It is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>understood that there is widespread agreement that the outcome document will be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>based on negotiations on the President's text.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The G77 and China are however adamant that this text, which they consider<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>already too much watered down from the group's own proposed text, should not be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>diluted further.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The preparatory committee will resume its negotiations on 16 April afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The battle in the UNCTAD XIII preparatory process is being monitored with a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>sense of serious concern.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>An influential group of 50 former senior UNCTAD staff issued a joint statement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>criticizing efforts by major developed countries to reduce UNCTAD's mandate and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>deny it the right to continue to analyse global macroeconomic issues from a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>development perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The signatories included former UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>two former deputy Secretaries-General, Carlos Fortin and Jan Pronk, and several<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Directors. (See SUNS #7349 dated 13 April 2012.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>(* Martin Khor is the Executive Director of the South Centre.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>+<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/apr/16/rich-countries-want-to-muzzle-unctad/print">http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/apr/16/rich-countries-want-to-muzzle-unctad/print</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.guardiannews.com/"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=115 height=22 id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image001.gif@01CD1E73.963E9AD0" alt="Description: Description: The Guardian home"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=680 height=136 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CD1E73.963E9AD0" alt="Description: Description: Poverty Matters blog"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:20.0pt'>Why would policymakers want to gag a past master of economic prophecy?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=stand-first-alone>Unctad was right about Mexico's meltdown and the dangers of derivatives, yet rich countries apparently want to muzzle it<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p>In February, the UN's counterweight to the International Monetary Fund (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/imf" title="More from guardian.co.uk on IMF">IMF</a>) and the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/worldbank" title="More from guardian.co.uk on World Bank">World Bank</a> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/feb/07/un-urges-overhaul-global-financial-system?INTCMP=SRCH" title="">fired off a withering critique</a> of the global financial system, calling for fundamental reform as part of a new deal that can "lift all boats" in rich and poor countries alike.<o:p></o:p></p><p>The report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), entitled <a href="http://www.unctad.org/meetings/en/SessionalDocuments/tdxiii_report_en.pdf" title="">Development-led globalisation</a>, had no qualms about taking potshots at the IMF and the World Bank. It said the first priority is "taming finance", arguing that leaving markets to regulate themselves is both ineffectual and costly.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"Neither the IMF nor the World Bank, having abandoned their original raison d'être to the siren calls of unregulated financial markets, have been able to forge a vision of a post-crisis economy consistent with changed economic and political realities," said the report, which set out the theme for this week's Unctad XIII conference in Doha, Qatar, the first major UN ministerial conference on trade and development since the fallout from the economic crisis became clear.<o:p></o:p></p><p>But Unctad's supporters fear the organisation will be muzzled if rich countries have their way. Last week, former Unctad staff accused rich countries of wanting to remove the organisation's mandate to analyse global finance – effectively removing a dissenting voice in the debate on economic policy.<o:p></o:p></p><p>A statement released by former staff members, including Rubens Ricupero, a former Unctad secretary-general, says developed countries have been trying to limit the organisation's remit to trade, governance and democracy, leaving analysis of global finance to the IMF and the World Bank.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"So the developed countries in Geneva have seized the occasion to stifle Unctad's capacity to think outside the box," said the letter. "This is neither a cost-saving measure nor an attempt to 'eliminate duplication' as some would claim. The budget for Unctad's research work is peanuts and disparate views on economic policy are needed today more than ever as the world clamours for new economic thinking as a sustainable way out of the current crisis. No, it is rather – if you cannot kill the message, at least kill the messenger."<o:p></o:p></p><p>The letter has been picked up by several development bloggers such as Duncan Green, head of research at Oxfam, who expressed his bafflement at the apparent attempt to limit debate. <a href="http://taxjustice.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/unctads-future-threatened-for.html" title="">Tax Justice Network</a> has also voiced its concern, while Robert Wade, professor of political economy and development at the London School of Economics, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/apr/03/west-strikes-back-new-world-order-unctad?INTCMP=SRCH" title="">flagged up the issue on the Guardian's economics blog</a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p>According to John Burley – one of the signatories to the statement now doing the rounds in the blogosphere – the US, the EU, Switzerland and Japan are leading the charge to clip Unctad's wings in the preparatory meetings before this week's conference in Doha.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"Unctad would continue to produce its trade and development reports but it would not be allowed to analyse and develop critiques of the global financial system," he said.<o:p></o:p></p><p>That would be a shame. When the <a href="http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidtrade/issues/washington.html" title="">Washington consensus</a> held sway, Unctad railed against the perils of premature liberalisation of trade and capital flows. But like the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/opinion/19mon4.html" title="">fabled prophet Cassandra</a>, it was ignored, its warnings dismissed as puerile and irrelevant. Now the organisation – an organ of the UN general assembly created in 1964 to promote international trade – can justifiably say: "We told you so."<o:p></o:p></p><p>As Supachai Panitchpakdi, Unctad's secretary-general, noted in the report, the organisation: warned in 1993 of an emerging financial crisis in Mexico; flagged the systemic risk from growing derivatives markets; and, in 1997, cautioned against rapid financial liberalisation in east Asia. Perhaps if policymakers had heeded Unctad's warnings, we would not be where we are now.<o:p></o:p></p><p>The Department for International Development (DfID) gave an ambiguous response when asked about this kerfuffle.<o:p></o:p></p><p>"We are not seeking to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/15/in-praise-of-unctad" title="">narrow its mandate</a>," said a DfID official. "We want it to focus on what it does best, its work on trade and development, and to produce objective high quality research and formulate clear policy advice."<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l6 level1 lfo10'>© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.<o:p></o:p></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>