World Trade Organization

The Millennium Development Goals

Definitely not the G8  

Final script May 22, 2010; release date June 18, 2010.

HI Resource Types: 

Bridge to South Korea: Global civil society meeting on the G20

Bridge to South Korea

Held in Toronto, on Monday and Tuesday, June 21-22, 2010, just ahead of the G8 Summit in Huntsville and the G20 Summit in Toronto, this meeting was intended as a strategy session for civil society organizations, platforms and networks from many G20 countries (and beyond) to discuss diverse perspectives on both the G20 as an institution and priorities with respect to its agenda.

As the outcome of an initial G20 strategy meeting in Washington DC in April of 2010 among various groups, the intention of this broader meeting of national, regional and international networks was three-fold:

  • To develop a greater understanding of the key issues on the G20 agenda as well as alternative agendas seeking to influence the G20;
  • To strengthen and solidify strategic connections among G20 and non-G20 countries in the lead up to the South Korean and French G20 meetings and strengthen the capacities of networks to develop their own analysis and strategies for confronting the G20;
  • To develop concrete ideas and proposals for collaboration with South Korean colleagues for the November Summit.

MEETING DETAILS

Bridge to South Korea

Held in Toronto, on Monday and Tuesday, June 21-22, 2010, just ahead of the G8 Summit in Huntsville and the G20 Summit in Toronto, this meeting was intended as a strategy session for civil society organizations, platforms and networks from many G20 countries (and beyond) to discuss diverse perspectives on both the G20 as an institution and priorities with respect to its agenda.

As the outcome of an initial G20 strategy meeting in Washington DC in April of 2010 among various groups, the intention of this broader meeting of national, regional and international networks was three-fold:

  • To develop a greater understanding of the key issues on the G20 agenda as well as alternative agendas seeking to influence the G20;
  • To strengthen and solidify strategic connections among G20 and non-G20 countries in the lead up to the South Korean and French G20 meetings and strengthen the capacities of networks to develop their own analysis and strategies for confronting the G20;
  • To develop concrete ideas and proposals for collaboration with South Korean colleagues for the November Summit.

MEETING DETAILS

Fifteen years is enough - March 2010

Fifteen years is enoughWhat’s changed in the international financial system and its institutions, what hasn’t and what needs to

Executive Summary
Back in 1995, the G7 met in Halifax during a “time of change and opportunity.” The meeting took place in a context of mounting deficits and debt crises in countries in the South; in the wake of economic collapse in Mexico; and amid strong global criticism from civil society, the media and governments about the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) austere neo-liberal structural adjustment policies.

A lot has changed since then, partly in response to the Halifax G7 Summit and subsequent G7 and G8 meetings. Too many of these improvements, however, exist only on paper. Beyond the surface, the neo-liberal, market-oriented bias that guides the Bank and Fund’s agenda and thinking has not altered.

The 2010 G8 Summit in Toronto in 2010 takes place during another “time of change and opportunity.” The financial crisis has spurred many civil society organizations (CSOs) to insist on far-reaching changes to the global financial system and its institutions. Clearly, as this publication will illustrate, 15 years of refusing to deal with the manifest shortcomings of the global economic system is enough.

Policy Paper: What’s missing in the response to the global financial crisis? - January 2010

Rethinking the international financial system during a time of crisis

Introduction
On October 19 and 20, 2009, the Halifax Initiative held a conference, co-hosted by The North South Institute, the University of Ottawa and the School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS), entitled "What’s Missing in the Response to the Global Financial Crisis?" The meeting brought together experts from a range of backgrounds to analyze the challenges facing the global economy, discuss the ways in which the international community has responded to the current financial crisis, and identify shortcomings in these responses.

Gordon Betcherman

Governance and institution - Global economic governance in crisis: new players, new power

Moderator: Gordon Betcherman, Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa

Gerry Barr

Close and summing up

Gerry Barr, President-CEO, Canadian Council for International Co-operation
and Chair, Make Poverty History Canada

Q&A Session

Perspectives on proposals for change - Rethinking the global financial system

Questions and answers and discussion

Government of Canada: 

Soren Ambrose

Rethinking the global financial architecture – perspectives from civil society

Soren Ambrose, Development Finance Coordinator, Action Aid International

Amar Bhattacharya

Rethinking the global financial architecture –perspectives from the Inter-Governmental Group of 24

Amar Bhattacharya, Director, Inter-Governmental Group of 24

Cristina Rojas

Perspectives on proposals for change - Rethinking the global financial system

Moderator: Cristina Rojas, Professor, Norman Paterson School of
International Affairs, Carleton University

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