Statement by the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development* (April 2009)

We, the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD), recognize that the financial and economic crisis represents a critical political opportunity to make significant structural changes in the global development macroeconomic and financial architecture that reflect rights-based and equitable principles.

The recent G-20 decision to replenish International Monetary Fund (IMF) resources is deeply flawed as it perpetuates failed neoliberal economic policies, reinforces structural inequalities, and will increase developing country indebtedness. Moreover it is based on an overproduction and overconsumption model that ignores social reproduction, sustainability of the resources of the planet; and is based on a few acting to the exclusion of the many.

We need an alternative and more inclusive process, not one lodged in the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) that have created the crisis but in the United Nations (UN), which today is the only platform for genuine global dialogue and governance on global public ‘goods’; where women’s rights and human rights are enshrined; and where each country large or small has a voice at the table.

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The WWG on FfD listserv gender-in-ffd@googlegroups.com is a vehicle to exchange information, updates and feminist analyses on FfD issues and to advance development alternatives. To join the listserv or for more information, please contact info@dawnnet.org. You may also visit http://www.ffdngo.org for more details WWG on FfD activities.

* This declaration emerged out of the Second Women’s Consultation convened by the WWG on FfD in New York from April 24-26, 2009. The following WWG on FfD members and invited networks endorse this statement: African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Agribusiness Action Initiatives (AAI), Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Center for Budget Accountability and Governance (CBAG), Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), Feminist Task ForceGlobal Call to Action against Poverty (FTF-GCAP), Global Policy Forum (GPF), International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Medical Mission Sisters, Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), Third World Network-Africa (TWN-A), Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and Women in Development-Europe (WIDE). The WWG on FfD is coordinated by DAWN.