Major surgery, not cosmetic facelift, must be at center of UN Conference on economic crisis June 23rd, 2009

New York, June 23, 2009  - In the midst of the global economic crisis, ongoing negotiations at the UN over the Outcome Document for the conference on the Financial and Economic Crisis, June 24-26th, 2009 are betraying age-old power fault lines.  Rich, industrialized countries are attempting to underplay the legitimate role of the United Nations in the ongoing process of global economic system reform.

According to the Global Social Economy Group (GSEG) industrialized country governments are fudging the hard issues at the UN and instead utilizing forums such as the G8 and the G20 to make decisions affecting millions of people, rendering those worst affected by the crisis voiceless.

The GSEG, which is hosting the Civil Society Forum, a major gathering of civil society organizations  wants to see major reform of the World Bank and IMF. They insist that strong commitments on debt reform and additional resources for the immediate and long-term financing needs of developing countries take center stage in the upcoming conference discussions.

This week the World Bank released its most gloomy forecast for developing countries yet, predicting a $1 US trillion economic slump in their economies, making the case for civil society demands even greater.

“Rich countries have a responsibility to show us they are serious about implementing the major reforms necessary to lift us out of this crisis and put us on a path of redistributive economic justice and sustainable development. As citizens living with the everyday reality of the havoc this recession is wreaking on our countries, we fully support the far-reaching reforms proposed by the Stiglitz Commission,” commented Bhumika Muchhala, Senior Policy Advisor for the Third World Network. “We want to see these proposals incorporated in the Outcome Document of the Conference.”