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A new multi-stakeholder process has recently been set up to address commodities problems from a poverty reduction and development perspective.
A conference on “The Global Initiative on Commodities,” held from 7-11 May in Brasilia, Brazil, aimed to re-launch the commodities agenda from a poverty reduction and development perspective, raise the profile and understanding of commodity issues at the international level and identify an international strategy based on coherence, governance and solidarity at all levels to help commodity-dependent countries reduce poverty and hunger. Jointly organised by the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and hosted by the government of Brazil, the conference brought together participants mainly from developing countries, as well as representatives from NGOs, research institutes and farmers’ organisations, international organisations and a few private companies.
The conference focused on four aspects of commodity markets that have a direct bearing on commodity producers’ incomes and wellbeing, as well as on opportunities for economic growth and the sustainable development of commodity-dependent developing countries. These included: the supply capacity limitations under which commodity producers operate; effective participation in the value chain; lack of diversification of the production and export base; and an international enabling environment. The conference examined ways in which policies and initiatives could be addressed at national and international levels by commodity-producing developing countries, their developed country partners, the private sector, civil society and international organisations. The conference report and recommendations identified two sets of action: global governance, coherence and solidarity issues on the one hand; and issues having to do with the supply side, the value chain and finance for diversification and use of resource rents on the other.
The conference launched an initiative aimed at achieving a global consensus on addressing critical issues for commodity development in developing countries, which will be elaborated further at the twelfth session of UNCTAD in Accra, Ghana, in April 2008, and at the review of the Monterey Conference on Finance for Development, also in 2008. The initiative will also be on the agenda of the UN General Assembly.
Additional information
A summary of the meeting will be available shortly at http://www.common-fund.org/?nid=42
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