Agreement reached in advance of UN forum on financing for development

Following 12 days of intensive consultations, the committee charged with negotiating a set of principles for the forthcoming UN International Conference on Financing for Development has reached informal agreement on the text that Conference will aim to adopt.

In the draft text, States express concern about expected dramatic shortfalls in resources needed to support the achievement of internationally-agreed development goals. They also warn that the global economic slowdown that followed the 11 September attacks has further reduced economic growth rates - making the need for greater cooperation between States to promote economic growth more urgent.

Much of the text, known as the "Monterrey Consensus," was agreed to by government representatives before the weekend, but disagreements about certain key paragraphs on international trade, official development assistance (ODA) and emergency financing remained.

On Sunday, meeting informally, delegations to the preparatory committee reached consensus on those outstanding issues. The panel now plans to meet formally this week to approve the text. Once approved, the text will be passed to the Conference for its consideration and eventual adoption.

The Conference itself, which will be held from 18 to 22 March in Monterrey, Mexico, aims to address the obstacles faced by developing countries in trade, aid, debt, investment, strengthening national capacities and coordination.