A UN summit on development in Doha has ended without the necessary urgency and concrete commitment to help millions of people living in acute poverty.

The Doha Follow-Up International Conference on Financing for Development ended 2 December with a decision to convene “a conference at the highest level on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development”.

After four days of negotiations to review progress since the Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in Monterrey, Mexico 18-22 March 2002, delegates failed to agree on any major moves that would have helped changed the lives of the poorest.

The president of the General Assembly of the UN, who has been asked to organise this conference, is convinced that he can have it in March 2009, before the next G20 meeting in London.

Caritas Internationalis Representative Michel Roy at the Doha summit said, “A mother dies every minute in childbirth. A child dies every three seconds. This could be prevented with an additional $10 billion a year. The poor can’t wait any longer for action. When trillions of dollars were found overnight to rescue the banking system, it is morally unjustifiable that we are allowing mothers and children to die from preventable causes.”

“To face the global crisis, the world needs effective decisions and follow up which must be inclusive and decisive. These decisions cannot be taken by the rich countries alone, whether 8 or 20, because their preoccupations lie with the defence of their own interests rather than those of the poor in the world. This is why Caritas Internationalis applauds the decision to organise a summit at short notice inclusive of all countries under the UN.

“Caritas also encourages the work of the group of experts put in place by the President of the General Assembly to prepare this conference that should work on a profound reform of the Bretton Woods institutions to adapt them to the present situation.

“This unique decision brings hope to the poorest nations that they can participate more actively in designing a democratic and fair world when the old world has shown that despite all its expertise, profit-oriented development has failed. It is time to put the human being back to the centre of the development of humanity.”

One of the issues at stake to finance development was the mobilisation of domestic resources. Doha has made a small step forward in denouncing tax fraud and avoiding tax practices which would be prejudicial. But Doha did not agree on internationally combating tax evasion and illicit capital flows through the upgrading of the UN Tax committee to an intergovernmental body. These practices cost every year between $350 and $500 billion to the poor countries, 5 times the amount of aid.

Please call Patrick Nicholson on +39 06 698 79 725 or +39 334 359 0700 or email nicholson@caritas.va with any requests.