Meeting in Monterey, Mexico, 18-22 March 2002, more than 50 Heads of State and Government and over 200 ministers of foreign affairs, trade, development and finance – the largest ever participation of finance officials at a United Nations sponsored event - unanimously agreed to a statement of principles to assist global development. The statement, known as the Monterey Consensus, has guided Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the rich to the poor nations. President Bush participated in the meeting and joined the consensus.
“Official Development Assistance plays an essential role as a complement to other sources of financing for development, especially in those countries with the least capacity to attract private direct investment.
ODA is also a crucial instrument for supporting education, health, public infrastructure development, agriculture and rural development, and to enhance food security. For many countries in Africa, least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, ODA is still the largest source of external financing and is critical to the achievement of the development goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration and other internationally agreed development targets.
We recognize that a substantial increase in ODA and other resources will be required if developing countries are to achieve the internationally agreed development goals and objectives…
In that context, we urge developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNP) as ODA to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNP of developed countries to least developed countries…”
Agreement Adopted at International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterey, Mexico, March 2002
http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/monterrey/MonterreyConsensus.pdf
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