Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Date: 20 February, 2005
Hosted by: International Development Research Centre

Context: The L20 project leaders, the co-hosts of the project meetings and select participants met in Ottawa at IDRC to review and discuss the results of the project to date. Each of the topical project meetings produced some interesting insights into how the proposed L20 grouping could assist in solving current global problems. The criteria below have guided all the project meetings. Please see the individual results pages and the meeting report for further details.

The selected agenda items for a potential L20 meeting must be attractive, both symbolically and politically, so that it invokes excitement among leaders (and their peoples). If committed, leaders have the capacity to make personal, crosscutting commitments that transcend bureaucracies, break deadlocks and offer coherence to the chosen agenda. Only a leaders' summit as envisaged for the L20 has the needed authority and credibility to broker systematic and holistic solutions.

Key criteria include:

a value-added initiative that can be agreed in a way not possible through other fora or organizations (e.g., G8 or the UN)
a workable solution â?? a forward looking, focused suite of actions and promises that offers a win-win-win outcome for L20 countries
legitimacy through adequate representation, particularly by the United States and the major developing countries
tangible results with substantial, broad-based benefits, realistic and acceptable financing mechanisms and organizational feasibility.