No Bretton Woods II without me and you

Alliance for Democracy has joined organizations worldwide in calling for a restructuring of a proposed November summit on the global financial crisis to be more inclusive, comprehensive, and transparent.

The proposed Global Summit, which will start November 15 in Washington, was organized by the Bush administration and currently includes only G20 countries, leaders of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and the Financial Stability Forum. The November meeting is the first in a proposed series.

Critics of the summit say that these "Bretton Woods II" talks need to be opened up to all who want to participate, including the global South, and NGOs, especially if the goal is to change monetary, development and international finance policies.

"We are deeply concerned that the proposed meetings will be carried out in a rushed and non-inclusive manner, and as a result, not address the comprehensive range of changes needed, nor fairly allocate their burden," says the statement. "Though the crisis originated in northern countries, the impacts are likely to be greatest in developing countries. It is therefore critical that all countries have a say in the process to change the international financial architecture."

Rather than the G20 summit, signatories call for a major international conference convened by the UN, but only if the meeting is open to all governments, and includes representatives from civil and citizen's groups, social movements and other stakeholders. Signatories also call for a clear timeline and process for regional consultations. The conference should be "comprehensive in scope, tackling the full array of issues and institutions," and its proposals should be publicly available for discussion in advance of the meeting.

For more information, see www.choike.org.