In the follow up to the 2002 Financing for Development Conference, new relationships have been developing between ECOSOC, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Bretton Woods institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. WFM has been monitoring these meetings and joining with other NGOs to promote issues of global governance through these emerging relationships, while preserving, and eventually universalizing, a more democratic and participatory processes within the United Nations.

WFM calls for a Reform of the World Trade Organization and International Financial Institutions with a parallel process of strengthening UN organizations dealing with socio-economic issues as a counterbalance to the position of the WTO and the Bretton Woods institutions. At the same time, WFM finds the establishment of a WTO parliamentary assembly to be an essential step in democratizing the World Trade Organization.

In recent years, an increased debate about innovative sources of finance has emerged in intergovernmental processes. Whereas this debate is mainly directed toward providing financing for development, WFM calls for a broader interpretation of innovative finance mechanisms such as Global Levies or Taxes to serve as sources of independent funding for multilateral organizations. Such independent funding would address the current political unbalance of international institutions and ensure more democratic global governance.

Appalled by the imbalance of global spending on militarization compared to resources allocated for socio-economic development, education and human rights, WFM addresses the discrepancy between Expenditures on Militarization and development aid.

In this area:

Introduction to Global Economic Governance | Reform of International Financial Organizations | Global Levies or Taxes | Addressing Expenditures on Militarization | Corporate Accountability