By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 19 2008 (IPS)

As the spreading global financial crisis threatens to cripple banks, stock markets and manufacturing industries in the developing world, the United Nations is now focusing on the outcome of a major international conference on Financing for Development (FfD) scheduled to take place in Doha next week.

The oil and gas-rich emirate of Qatar, which is hosting the conference, is seeking a high political profile for a meeting open to all 192 member states, compared with last week's economic summit in Washington which was restricted to 20 developed and developing nations.

Ambassador Nassir Abdelaziz al-Nasser, the permanent representative of Qatar to the United Nations, says his government is pulling all the stops to ensure that FfD will be a key summit meeting of world leaders who could help alleviate the current crisis.

"We expect a number of heads of state and government to attend the summit meeting," he added

As of last week, he said, the list of world leaders expected to attend the meeting include those from France, Spain, South Korea, Turkey, South Africa, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and possibly Brazil, Indonesia and Italy, along with the head of the European Commission.

The head count is expected to increase by next week.

He pointed out that the relevant U.N. resolution calls for the conference to "be held at the highest possible political level, including with the participation of Heads of State or Government, ministers, special representatives and other representatives, as appropriate."

"This means that all member states of the United Nations, as well as chief executives of the U.N. system, along with civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and representatives of the private sector, are expected in Doha," Al-Nasser told IPS.

The meeting in Doha is a follow up to the first international conference on FfD held in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002.

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang says the 2002 Monterrey Consensus represented a revival of multilateralism as a shared responsibility of both developed and developing countries.

"Developing countries committed to improve their macroeconomic management while developed countries promised to increase aid, alleviate debt distress, and ensure a global economy supportive of investment of growth," he said.

But, according to one U.N. official, most of these pledges have remained unimplemented. "There has been a huge gap between promises and delivery," he told IPS.

Zukang said the current financial crisis throws a spotlight on the international community's failure to adequately address systemic issues.

He said the FfD conference will provide "an early opportunity to send a clear signal of the urgency of considering these matters while ensuring counter-cyclical and other measures to contain the consequences of the ongoing financial turmoil."

Meanwhile, Qatar is rolling out the red carpet for all participants who will be mostly guests of the government.

The final declaration to be adopted at the conference, which runs Nov. 29 through Dec. 2, will deal with several issues relevant to the current financial crisis, including mobilising domestic and international financial resources for development; international trade; an increase in official development assistance (ODA); and innovative sources of financing for development.

An Asian ambassador, who has been closely monitoring the ongoing negotiations, told IPS that since the FfD meeting is not a pledging conference, he does not expect any concrete financial commitments to come out of Doha.

But the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, could spring a surprise, he added.

At the Second South-South Summit in Doha three years ago, the Emir proposed the creation of a special South Fund for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, now called the Doha Fund, with an initial contribution of 20 million dollars.

China and India have also contributed to the Fund and it has been given final approval and support by the 130-member Group of 77 and China.

Ambassador Al-Nasser said the Fund is meant to support South-South cooperation and "provide a vehicle for the better-off in the developing world to help those who are less fortunate."

Asked what role Qatar will play in working towards a consensus on the final document, he said that his country has a special place as the host country.

"But in the United Nations, each country has an equal voice, especially in the negotiating process for the outcome of such an important conference," he noted.

"However, we certainly have attempted to introduce our interests in cementing the solidarity among developing countries through south-south economic cooperation," he added.

In support of this effort Qatar has sponsored a summit with the Latin American countries. In addition, it has focused on several key issues, including energy policy, climate change and biodiversity.

"We are thus working within the normal negotiating framework to ensure that these issues be given due consideration in the discussions at the conference and in the drafting of the outcome document," Al-Nasser declared.

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