the United Nations Development Group, said that today’s focus was on preparations for the September Summit. The Assembly President’s draft outcome document built on the areas covered in the Monterrey Consensus -– aid, trade, debt and the need to ensure good governance. The President’s proposals represented a qualitative change to the understanding of international development cooperation. With the Millennium Development Goals as the objective, the Consensus was a pact between developed and developing countries, and a commitment by the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions to work together to support national efforts for the achievement of the Goals.

Looking at the road travelled since 2002, he noted the great strides made in the areas of ODA, debt and international trade. Today, more and more countries were committedto meet the 0.7 per cent target and some had reached 1 per cent. Also, the recent announcement by the Group of 8 to cancel the debt of 18 countries was a strong beginning. Despite slow starts, Monterrey did succeed in focusing on a trade round with a strong development core, and the Doha agenda was proceeding. Good governance, long a feature of the work of the United Nations, was now awarded a central place in the post-Monterrey world. Likewise, engagement with the Bretton Woods institutions, especially at the country level, had never been stronger.

The record of Monterrey was positive, he concluded. To fulfil the Monterrey Consensus, the world needed a strong United Nations, with coherent, well resourced operational activities for development. The spirit of Monterrey was consensus-building