G8 Development Ministers' Meeting
The impact of the economic crisis is going to be the leitmotif of the G8 Development Ministers' Meeting, scheduled to be held in Rome under the Italian presidency on 11 and 12 June 2009. The meeting comes at a particularly difficult time in view of the serious impact that the economic crisis is having on developing countries, even going as far as to jeopardise the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
At the recent G20 Summit in London on 2 April 2009, several measures were announced in the hope that they would be capable of providing solutions in the short term to the difficulties that the developing countries are having to face. But a great deal still remains to be done, especially for the most vulnerable and heavily indebted countries. In that context, the G8's crucial role is returning in full force as the leading international forum for debating issues relating to the real economy and to development.
1. Outreach and Priority for Africa. Africa will be playing a leading role, and will be able to have its say, both in Rome and at the summit in L'Aquila. Italy has decided to expand the traditional Heiligendamm format (the five emerging economies, namely Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) to include Egypt, and also to invite both the African Union (Libya, which holds the duty presidency, and the Commission) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development - NEPAD (represented by Ethiopia, its duty president, and by the five members of the steering committee: in addition to South Africa and Egypt, also Senegal, Nigeria and Algeria) to the G8 Development Ministers' Meeting.
This will be the first opportunity that all of these countries have to take part in a G8 Development Ministers' Meeting. The decision to offer them that opportunity is part and parcel of the Italian Presidency's development strategy. Invitations have also been extended to representatives of the United Nations (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs - UNDESA), of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development - OECD (OCSE), of the World Bank, of the Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO, of the International Fund for Agricultural Development -IFAD, of the World Food Programme - WFP (PAM), of the World Health Organization - WHO (OMS) and of the African Development Bank.
2. Ministers' Meeting: Format. This is the first time that Italy has organized a G8 Development Ministers' Meeting, because the custom of holding a meeting of development ministers in a G8 context only dates back to the Canadian Presidency in 2002. The meeting will start on the morning of 11 June and wind up with a news conference at 12:30 on 12 June. The ministers' talks will also encompass an encounter and a debate between the Italian Presidency and representatives of civil society.
3. Ministers' Meeting: Agenda. The main issue on the agenda at the Rome meeting will be the impact of the economic crisis on developing countries. This topic has the advantage of allowing the Italian Development Ministers' talks to play a central role in an international context rich in meetings and discussions. The Rome talks were preceded by the European Union's General Affairs and External Relations Council on Development on 18 and 19 May, and by the United Nations' High Level Conference on the impact of the crisis on developing countries which is on the slate for early June. Where Italy in its capacity as G8 President is concerned, this programme will culminate in the Summit at L'Aquila in July.
So the G8 Development Ministers' Meeting offers the perfect opportunity for pulling together the results of all the debates on development issues held in the various international forums to date, thus paving the way for the "synthesis" that the heads of state and government leaders will be drafting in L'Aquila.
The second issue on the agenda will be an inter-area approach to sustainable development. The aim here is to harmonize and to impart greater consistency to cooperation initiatives in the various areas of development (education, the environment, health, food security and safety) in order to optimize available resources and to increase potential "economies of scale". In that context, participants will also be discussing the Italian G8 Presidency's four priorities in the development sector, namely food security and safety, education, health and water.
