New York: The absence of stability in the international financial markets and the turmoil seen in the economies of developing and developed countries as a result of the financial and economic crisis threaten the achievements attained in financing for development, Qatar has warned.
It called for concerted efforts to deal with the new emerging challenges, both resulting from the crisis or from other new topics, such as energy and food crises and the issue of climate change.
This came in a statement delivered by Abdul Aziz Mohammed Al Sada, member of Qatar’s delegation to the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, before the Economic and Financial Committee debate on “Follow-up to and implementation of the outcome of the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development and the 2008 Review Conference.
Al Sada said: The Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration represent key references in finance and development field as they contain the obligations of developing countries to develop financial, economic and social policies to achieve growth, as well as the commitments of developed countries to provide support to developing countries through increasing and improving aid, reducing the burden of debt and considering trade exchange. This will allow greater equality in deciding on things related to the international system, creating a favourable environment for development, and reaching agreements on growing and predictable official development assistance (ODA), debt relief, fighting corruption, policy coherence, as well as the strong commitment of developed countries to maintain ODA regardless of the financial crisis.
He added although we are witnessing what is believed to be early signs of recovery from the effects of the crisis in the developed countries, the effects are still being felt strongly in developing countries which are still suffering from low flows of financial and investment and trade, low flows of official development assistance. Therefore, we should not be deceived by those indicators since the achieved growth is still fragile, and the structural and economic conditions of most developing countries are still at a very critical stage in light of the decline of exports and freezing of credit available, Al sada said.
Underlining the importance of the implementation of commitments to financing for development and the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration, Al Sada said Qatar, through the cooperation programs it provides in economic and social development, humanitarian affairs and the fight against poverty, has proven that it as an active partner in this area and reaffirmed again its commitment in this context.QNA
