wfn.org | WCC - Monterrey Consensus document fails to provide

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

mechanisms to eradicate poverty

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-02-11
For Immediate Use
14 March 2002

Monterrey Consensus document fails to provide mechanisms to
eradicate poverty

cf. WCC Press Update, Up-02-01, of 28 January 2002
cf. WCC Press Feature, Feat-01-18, of 24 October 2001

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is deeply concerned that the
forthcoming International Conference on Financing for
Development, to be held in Monterrey, Mexico, 18-22 March, could
be another example of a United Nations forum being dominated by
the neo-liberal policies of the World Trade Organization, World
Bank and International Monetary Fund.  

The Monterrey Consensus Document to be adopted at the conference
is uncritical of the neo-liberal economic model which, "holds out
no real hope for eliminating or even reducing poverty, but rather
continues to exacerbate it," says a statement released by the WCC
to mark the opening of the Monterrey conference.  

The WCC statement emphasizes that a people-centred approach to
financing for development is essential. "The WCC flatly rejects
such economic models as being contrary to the notion of economic
equity sought by Christians....The document is not explicit
either on control of financial markets or on the promotion of
equity and human rights as factors in world trade."  

The WCC is part of a 30-member ecumenical team which has
monitored all the conference's preparatory committees and which
will be present in Monterrey.  

The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, has said that
the Monterrey international conference will be a decisive test of
the political will of the governments in Europe and North America
to implement "all the fine declarations of intent during recent
encounters, including this year's meeting of the World Economic
Forum in New York". "Further weakening of the commitments and
concrete actions to fully justified expectations will constitute
a threat to credible global governance," he said.  

The WCC has previously criticized the approach of the
International Financial Institutions (IFIs). During the June 2000
World Summit on Social Development, Raiser wrote to UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan that "the policies (of the IFIs)
have not only failed to bridge the gap between the rich and poor
and achieve greater equality, but rather contributed to the
widening gap." 

For the Monterrey Conference, the WCC has called on UN member
states to give serious consideration to three major points:  

- the elimination of structural inequalities in the global
trading system and the establishment of mutuality, transparency
and public participation in future negotiations;

- pursuit of a permanent solution to the debt problem both for
poor countries and middle-income countries, starting with
immediate cancellation of the external debt of poor countries and
setting up, under UN auspices, an independent and fair debt
arbitration mechanism for current and future loans, which will
promote ethical lending and borrowing policies; 

- strengthening the UN's role in the fields of economic,
finance, trade and social policy by strengthening the capacity of
ECOSOC and UNCTAD to deal effectively with these issues.  

The WCC and the ecumenical team will be in Monterrey to remind
the International Conference that financing for development is a
matter of justice. It has not been seen that way so far. "We hear
only of the articulation of policies which enable transnational
corporations to take centre stage," says Dr Rogate Mshana, WCC
staff member on economic issues. "We oppose the philosophy that
poverty eradication is best addressed through greater markets
managed by transnational corporations or international financial
institutions," he said.  

As well as the participants invited by the WCC, members of the
ecumenical team include representatives from the Latin American
Council of Churches, the Anglican Communion, the General Board of
Church and Society of the United Methodist Church (USA), the
United Church of Christ (USA), the Roman Catholic religious
order, the Sisters of Mercy and the International Shinto
Foundation. The team members are from Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda,
South Africa, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia, Argentina, Panama,
Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Czech Republic, Canada, Japan,
India and Samoa.  

The delegation is staying at the Casa Inn Son Mar Hotel, 1211
Ave Alfonso Reyes, Monterrey, as from 15 March; telephone:
(+52.8) 1.83.75.44.00.  

Mobile telephone of Dr Rogate Mshana in Monterrey as from 17
March is: (+52) 82.10.39.73.  

For more information, documents and press releases on the WCC
presence at the Monterrey Conference consult:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/monterrey-e.html 

For additional information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer,
Tel.:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
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