The former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is going to chair a Panel of Eminent Persons created to elaborate strategies to strengthen the impact of actions by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
The group of "seven individuals who are internationally renowned for their expertise on development issues" was formed at the request of the entity’s secretary general, Supachai Panitchpakdi. The decision was announced Friday, October 14.
The specialists should present a report to the secretary general at the end of April 2006. As well as Cardoso, participating in the team will be Jagdish Bhagwati, professor of economics at Columbia University, in the United States; Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former director general of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The other members of the group are Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique; Tarja Halonen, President of Finland; Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University and former US Treasury Secretary; and Long Yongtu, former Trade representative of China.
Fernando Henrique has already chaired a Panel of Eminent Persons on UN Civil Society Relations, at the invitation of the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan.
According to information on the Fernando Henrique Cardoso Institute’s website, the group formed by 11 people made recommendations that are in the report "We the Peoples: Civil Society, the United Nations and Global Governance".
Anba