G20 Seoul Development Consensus taken further

The G20 High-Level Development Working Group (HLDWG) met in the end of June 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss the issues of development and development effectiveness. The meeting has resulted in a number of commitments, including taking the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth (2010) further and developing it for the next G20 Summit in Mexico in 2012.

The countries and international organizations present at the HLDWG meeting appreciated Korea’s contribution to the development and implementation of the Seoul Consensus, especially after the G20 development agenda has been adopted at the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries. Korean government has also brought to the G20 debate the perspective of the upcoming High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Still, the NGO representation has criticized the HLDWG for little action in relation to the ambitious commitments of the Consensus. There is a fear that the lack of concrete financial declarations as well as lack of political will and clear commitments concerning change of policies might inhibit its implementation.

An important outcome of the meeting was deciding to further develop the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth that was agreed upon during the G20 Summit in Seoul in 2010 and take it beyond the G20 meeting in Cannes in 2011 to the G20 Summit that will take place in Mexico in 2012. The HLDWG has also committed to support job training programs in Benin, Malawi and Bangladesh as a means of job creation and a stimulus of inclusive economic growth.

The next meeting of the HLDWG will take place in September.