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Hola<br>
<br>
Nos piden si hay alguien con tiempo y ganas para traducir al español el
siguiente texto, sobre la posible futura conferencia para reformar la
arquitetura financiera internacional. Si hay alguien, que me envie un
mail a mi directamente ...<br>
<br>
gracias<br>
<br>
iolanda<br>
<br>
<p>Bretton Woods II conference FAQs </p>
<p>23 October 2008</p>
<p>As the world’s most powerful leaders propose a global economic
reform summit – a Bretton Woods II – Eurodad publishes a guide to what
is being planned, what it means, and what civil society groups are
demanding</p>
<p>1. What was the original Bretton Woods conference?</p>
<p>In June 1944, 44 governments met for 22 days in Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire, U.S.A. at a meeting known as the United Nations Monetary and
Financial Conference. The meeting was intended to agree a new
institutional architecture to improve inter-governmental economic and
monetary cooperation after the war. It gave birth to the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank. It was also supposed to initiate the
International Trade Organisation, but this was not ratified by member
governments until the 1990s, when the World Trade Organisation was
established.</p>
<p>2. Who has called for a new conference?</p>
<p>Several political leaders have gone public with demands for a
Bretton Woods II. Heads of Government from 11 Commonwealth countries
issued the <a
href="http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=180214">Marlborough
House Statement on Reform of International Institutions</a>,
in June. This called for wider international support for an
international conference to redefine the purposes and governance of the
Bretton Woods Institutions. The statement was signed by leaders from
Guyana, Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago,
Uganda, United Kingdom, Tanzania, Ghana, and Malaysia. In September,
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a “global summit” to
rebuild “regulated capitalism”. This was reiterated in mid-October in
the <a href="http://www.imf.org/external/np/cm/2008/101508.htm">G8
leaders Statement on the Global Economy</a>,
calling for a “leaders" meeting with key countries at an appropriate
time in the near future to adopt an agenda for reforms to meet the
challenges of the 21st century.” US president George W. Bush and UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon have more recently added their voices to
these calls.</p>
<p>3. Where will the new BW conference take place?</p>
<p>While there are expected to be a series of summits, the first will
take place in Washington. Parallel to this, however, on October 21, the
President of the General Assembly announced the appointment of
economics Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz as the Chair of a
high-level task force to review the global financial system, including
major bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF). The composition and the precise terms of reference of the task
force will be announced soon after the Interactive Panel on the Global
Financial Crisis to be held in the United Nations on 30 October 2008.
In addition, the Doha meeting for financing for development has also
raised the possibility of a "<a id="ag2n"
title="a major international conference to review the international financial and monetary architecture and global economic governance structures"
href="http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/doha/draftoutcome/index.htm">a
major international conference to review the international financial
and monetary architecture and global economic governance structures</a>".</p>
<p>
<span id="{9345B300-5752-4C80-B96F-A7709212C2D0}">4. </span> When
will the new BW conference take place?</p>
<p>George Bush announced on October 22 that the first meeting will take
place on November 15. A series of summits is likely to follow, although
their date has not yet been announced. Civil society organisations and
some officials argue that refounding the Bretton Woods system cannot be
done simply at one meeting (the first meeting took 22 days). This first
meeting should simply initiate a longer inter-governmental process.
Meanwhile, other groups are pushing for at least an outcome to initiate
a more inclusive process from the Doha meetings on Financing for
Development at the end of November. <br>
</p>
<p>5. Which governments will be invited to the new BW conference?</p>
<p>The formula will be "G-7 plus". In announcing the summit, US
President George Bush said that summit would bring together members of
the G-20. The G-20 is made up of the G-7 plus Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the European Union. The IMF and the
World Bank also participate in G-20 meetings. The G-20 was set up to
respond to the financial turmoil of 1997-99 through the development of
policies that "promote international financial stability". The G-20
comprises countries considered to be systemically important, but omits
over 170 governments (192 governments are members of the United
Nations).</p>
<p>6. What issues and institutions will be up for discussion at the
proposed meeting?</p>
<p>There is no official agenda for the meeting as yet. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said
“Bretton Woods II” should bring about “genuine, all-encompassing reform
of the international financial system”. The Council of the European
Union sees the meeting as “tak[ing] early decisions on transparency,
global standards of regulation, cross-border supervision and crisis
management, to avoid conflicts of interest and to create an early
warning system, so as to engender confidence among savers and investors
in every country.” In announcing the meeting, the spokesperson for US
President George Bush said that "leaders will review progress being
made to address the current financial crisis, advance a common
understanding of its causes, and, in order to avoid a repetition, agree
on a common set of principles for reform of the regulatory and
institutional regimes for the world’s financial sector". UK Prime
Minister Gordon Brown, in a mid-October speech, set out several
principles. These include transparency (internationally agreed
accounting standards, credit insurance market standards), integrity
(credit agencies, executive pay), responsibility (board member
competency and expertise), sound banking practice (protecting against
speculative bubbles).</p>
<p>For the new international architecture Brown and others are
discussing an effective global early warning system for risk
prevention, globally accepted standards to supervise cross-border
capital flows, and the activities of global firms, stronger
institutions for cooperative action in crises. For CSOs it will be
important that equity as well as stability is discussed at the
conference and that fairer rules are developed for aid, debt, trade,
investment, taxation and capital flight. The governance of the
international financial institutions must be radically changed.<br>
</p>
<p>7. What is the link between the BW conference and other
inter-governmental processes such as the UN Financing for Development
(FfD) process or the regular G-7/G-8 processes?</p>
<p>There is no formal link – the proposed BWII conference is <i>ad hoc</i>.
However the implicit link to the G-20 process is strong, with no clear
link with any UN processes. In fact Ban Ki-Moon offered the UN as the
meeting place for the first meeting in New York, but the US refused. UN
officials within the FfD secretariat have also been pushing publicly
for making links to the FfD process, and civil society have been
pushing for such a meeting under the auspices of the UN. The G77 and
Rio Group are supposedly in favour of such a move, while the G24 are
hesitant to push a process through the UN. Regardless, there is a
danger that the smaller meeting will in fact reinforce the power of the
G-7 and the G-20, and further undermine the more inclusive UN FfD
process which will have its summit in Doha from November 29 - December
2. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has commented: ''I strongly believe
that holding the summit at the United Nations, the symbol of
multilateralism, will lend universal legitimacy to this endeavour and
demonstrate a collective will to face this serious global challenge".
In Geneva, UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai Panitchpakdi also said
that the UN and a wider variety of countries should play a significant
role in talks to reshape the international financial system so that it
can better cope with spreading turmoil and a looming worldwide
recession.</p>
<p>8.<span id="{E7C0330A-9FA8-4D20-BA6D-FDB8F5C70274}"> </span> What
civil society statements have been issued on the Bretton Woods
Institutions and the current process?</p>
<p>A new statement, prepared by organisations from across the world,
calls for an opening of the process to discuss solutions for the
world's financial system.<br>
<a
title="Statement on the proposed “Global Summit” to reform the international financial system"
href="http://www.choike.org/bw2/">Statement on the proposed “Global
Summit” to reform the international financial system</a>. Sign it by 28
October.<br>
<br>
Previous civil society calls to abolish or transform the international
financial institutions include: <br>
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span id="{FB929917-9455-45D6-9352-E20F7DE14F59}"></span><a
id="n8t8" title="ATTAC statement"
href="http://banglapraxis.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/the-time-has-come-lets-shut-down-the-financial-casino/">The
time has come, let's shut down the financial casino</a> </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span id="apture_prvw1" class="aptureLink"><span
style="background-position: right -99px;" class="aptureLinkIcon"> </span><a
href="http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Documents/CreatingTurmoil.pdf"
class="aptureLink snap_noshots">Tax Havens, Creating Turmoil, Tax
Justice Network (PDF)</a></span> </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span id="{31F54255-48D8-439A-8680-93F3AE27DF97}"><a id="evmn"
title="Response from the South to the World Economic Crisis"
href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3879">Response from the
South to the World Economic Crisis</a> </span> </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span id="{F7D567E1-D961-44B4-B7ED-B2118A34ED3E}"><a id="s7f9"
title="Latin American and Caribbean Social Movements Demand Immediate Actions"
href="http://www.debtweek.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=137&Itemid=1">Latin
American and Caribbean Social Movements Demand Immediate Actions</a>
</span> </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span id="{F7D567E1-D961-44B4-B7ED-B2118A34ED3E}"></span><a
id="xe.8"
title="The global economic crisis: An historic opportunity for transformation"
href="http://casinocrash.org/?p=235">The global economic crisis: An
historic opportunity for transformation</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.ccfd.asso.fr/ewb_pages/i/info_1586.php">Nouveau
Bretton-Woods : on prend les mêmes et on recommence?</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>For more information on which civil society groups are working on
the World Bank, IMF and related institutions, and what they say, see <a
title="IFIwatchnet" href="http://www.ifiwatchnet.org/">IFIwatchnet</a>.</p>
<p>9. What opportunities for citizens’ action exist around the
process?</p>
<p>Citizens groups are signing <a id="na20"
title="the statement calling for an open process"
href="http://www.choike.org/bw2/">the statement calling for an open
process</a>.
This is a major and rare opportunity to make proposals for a new
financial architecture. It is an excellent time for citizens’ groups to
make proposals about policies and about institutions that are equitable
and inclusive and break decisively with the current model.</p>
<p>The current economic model and crisis have caused major difficulties
for citizens worldwide, through unemployment, housing dispossessions,
rising food and other prices, reduced remittances. These and other
effects are likely to continue. The depth of the current crisis and the
fact that it has started in the most liberalised economies in the North
mean that it provides a rare and important opportunity for mobilisation
and education towards a more stable, equitable and accountable economic
model and institutional framework. Without citizens’ mobilisation
little change will come.</p>
<p>About these FAQs</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Prepared by <a href="http://www.eurodad.org/">
<i>European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad</i>
</a>) and the <a href="http://www.halifaxinitiative.org/">
<i>Halifax Initiative Coalition</i>
</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Suggestions for updates/changes to <a
href="mailto:pwood@eurodad.org">pwood@eurodad.org</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Iolanda Fresnillo
Observatori del Deute en la Globalització
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.odg.cat">www.odg.cat</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:iolanda.fresnillo@odg.cat">iolanda.fresnillo@odg.cat</a>
*******************************************
Nova adreça: C. Girona 25 principal, 08010 Barcelona
Nou telèfon: 93 301 17 93
Nou domini: odg.cat
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