Article 1 in the Charter stipulates however that one of the purposes of the organisation is to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character. It goes on to say that the UN should be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations in the attainment of this and other common ends. In other words, the mandate of the UN in the economic area is clear. Promoting international co-operation for development has been a main pillar in the work of the UN since the 1950's, and increasingly so. But with globalisation, the international development challenges have changed.
Globalisation creates new opportunities for growth in the developing countries.
But in order to exploit these opportunities the developing countries must possess the necessary capacity. The poorest countries are in danger of being marginalised, especially in respect of trade and investment flows. Building the necessary capacity requires not only the right policies, but also sufficient resources. The FfD process provides a welcome opportunity to take a closer look at the whole spectre of financial resources for development and to create a common understanding of the respective roles of the various sources of finance in the development process. It is the hope that the process will create a basis for mobilising more resources for sustainable economic and social development.