Finance Ministers Meeting
The CommonwealthFinance Ministers Meeting (CFMM)is unique among Commonwealth ministerial meetings in that it is convened annually and not biennially or trienniallylike many others. These meetings take place immediately preceding the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The deliberations seek to build consensus on issues that will be addressed at the World Bank and IMF meetings and, in so doing, help strengthen national positions.
Additionally, the outcomes of the CFMMs often feed directly into the annual World Bank and IMF meetings. A group of Commonwealth Finance Ministers and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth usually hold an international press conference during the World Bank and IMF meetings to present the conclusions of their meeting.
Since 2002, the Commonwealth Foundation has worked with civil society partners and the Commonwealth Secretariat to facilitate civil society input to the CFMM. Each CFMM has a special theme, which focuses on a topical issue in international economics and finance, and it is the special theme session to which civil society is invited to make its input. This session
typically features the presentation of a discussion paper prepared by an expert on the theme and contributions from the private sector, through the Commonwealth Business Council, and civil society. In 2004, the special theme of the CFMM was Capacity of International Financial Institutions to Support Pro-poor Trade Liberalisation in Low-Income and Vulnerable Countries, and in 2005 the special theme was Giving Practical Effect to the Millennium Project Review.
2008 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting
For the seventh consecutive year the Commonwealth Foundation convened a civil society consultation on the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM). Prior to the meeting (CFMM) being held in Saint Lucia in October 2008, civil society leaders and representatives met to discuss this years topic, the implications of high food and energy prices for economic management.
The Commonwealth Foundation's civil society consultation resulted in a statement, which gives a series of recommendations on key issues on the current food and energy crisis. The statement centres around the themes of: Millennium Development Goals, food security, resources (including land, water, energy and capital), natural disasters and trade. The Commonwealth Foundation has incorporated this statement in a background paper, linked below, in which the Foundation also discusses ideas for short and long-term strategies to increase the ability of developing countries to grow and reduce poverty while also meeting national development goals.
| Related Documents | |
 | |
 | The Implications of High Food and Energy Prices for Economic Management 553 KB) |
| |
