Manuel urges compromise
2008-11-30 09:06
Doha - South Africa urged rich states and
developing countries to reach a compromise on a draft document
at a UN aid summit on Saturday, as the two sides squared off
over reforming the Bretton Woods global financial system.
"The negotiations for the outcome document have been
terribly slow," Trevor Manuel, South Africa's finance minister,
said. "We need a text that speaks adequately to the changes that
need to be made."
But Manuel also urged G77 countries, a group of more than
130 developing countries and China, to "acquire the spirit of
compromise" and to reach an agreement in Doha.
The meeting, aimed at advancing UN goals on reducing
extreme poverty, has been overshadowed by the financial crisis.
Developing countries, unhappy at paying a price for a
financial morass they had no part in creating, are insisting the
draft outcome document contain reference to a need for reform of
Bretton Woods institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.
But some rich nations, whose top-level delegations did not
attend the summit, think the language is too strong and want the
issue set aside for a later date.
Other sticking points, according to two delegation chiefs in
the talks who asked not to be identified, include a dispute over
climate change with oil-producing countries unwilling to be
locked in to commitments on renewable energy.
Expectations that the meeting, which runs until December 2,
would advance the so-called Millennium goals on alleviating
poverty have vanished and the focus has shifted to just
retaining the aid and development promises made at another
summit in Monterey, Mexico in 2002.
"We cannot allow this conference to end in failure," Manuel
said. "We must sustain the consensus we reached in Monterey."