The Barcelona Consensus at a United Nations Symposium
07-06-2010
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Send to friendOn May 10th and 11th 2010 the II Public Symposium "Responding to Global Crises: new development paths" was held in Geneva, organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). A delegation of the Barcelona Consensus was present, with members from Nova – Centre per a la Innovación Social and Alliance for Freedom and Dignity.
It was a great opportunity to make the Barcelona Consensus known to participants in the Symposium (mostly members of civil society organizations and academia) as well as members of the UN delegations.
One of the objectives of the Barcelona Consensus team was to exchange opinions and contacts with some of the project's participants who were present at the Symposium. We had a very pleasant lunch and received very positive feedback from:
Ibrahima Coulibaly, president of the Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Mali (CNOP) and member of the Barcelona Consensus Advisory Board
Dr. Zaki Ergas, General Secretary of P.E.N. International and Barcelona Consensus participant
Pedro Paez, former Economy Minister of Ecuador and Barcelona Consensus participant
The diagnosis of the current global situation shared by those presen at the symposium was that the crisis is the result of neoliberal policies, and that unless a financial reform and a shift in perspective – placing the poorest in focus – are put into practice, we will not move away from the current development model. Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, UNCTAD's General Secretary, made it clear that “With an extra 100 million people under the poverty line since the beginning of the crisis, it will be almost impossible to fulfill the United Nations Millenium Goals of reducing in 50% extreme poverty by 2015.”
Those critical towards the Washington Consensus in the round tables and the follow up discussions made it clear that a "new Consensus" needed. Anne Jellema from ActionAid has summed it up: "There is a certain level of consensus on the current situation, what we don't seem to agree on is how to solve it.”
Click here to read the official report.