9 April 2015: UN Member States and representatives of civil society organisations discussed issues related to the third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3) at an informal interactive hearing as part of the preparatory process for the conference. The substantive informal session took place on 9 April 2015 in New York, US.

Opening the session, Nicholas Emiliou, Acting UN General Assembly (UNGA) President, highlighted the need for all partners, business, civil society and governments to work together to secure a strong outcome of the Addis Ababa Conference, building on the Monterrey and Doha outcomes. Tessa Khan, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), called for more emphasis on a human-rights-based approach in the FfD 3 zero draft and reform of the current international economic regulatory system. Nazeem Martin, Business Partners Ltd, underlined that the common focus on entrepreneurship and self-employment as important solutions to the current job crisis needs to be nuanced, as it entails less job security and poorer standards in terms of insurance, pension and other normal benefits.

In a discussion on Domestic Public Resource Mobilization, Sameer Fazal Dossani, ActionAid International, called for strengthening international cooperation to decrease tax evasion and illicit financial flows. Tove Maria Ryding, European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), called for the implementation of fair and efficient tax governance through the creation of an UN body with universal membership, like the committee on forests under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which should work on better global governance on taxation.

Norhan Sherif Mokhtar, Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, suggested setting a global goal for minimum tax as a percentage of national gross domestic product (GDP), and called for recognizing tax as the necessary basis for reaching many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those on water, health and sanitation. Kudakwashe Dube, International Disability and Development Consortium, stressed the need to make more explicit the link between avoiding tax evasion and being able to secure sufficient domestic resource mobilization, to meet the needs of those most in need.

In government responses, Thulani Nyembe, Permanent Mission of South Africa, stressed the importance of mobilizing domestic resources while noting that the Group of 77 and China (G77/China) calls for scaling up the Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment to 1% of gross national income (GNI). Anne Poorta, Permanent Mission of the Netherlands, said a potential deliverable on illicit financial flows from Africa could be an increased aid from developed countries, in terms of training for: combating theft of government possessions; tackling tax evasion; ensuring more transparency between the public and private actors; and implementing new anti-money laundering and anti-corruption policies.

Andalib Elias, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh, said international cooperation on training of tax collection is “most welcome,” but formulation of rules and regulations should be left to countries. Michiko Miyano, Permanent Mission of Japan, suggested delegates “have a second look” at the policy recommendations offered by the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF) before the next drafting session on the FfD 3 outcome document.

Nicholas Lusiani, Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), said the FfD 3 outcome should focus on ensuring the sufficiency, efficient use, and accountability of resources. He added that countries should conduct periodic assessments of the revenue implications and governance spillover effects of tax policies.

Opening the discussion on International Public Finance, Claudio Guedes Fernandes, the Brazilian Association of NGOs (ABONG), said FfD 3 should mark the beginning of an era where “we can speak about economic democracy” and “governments take back the driver seat of development and fulfill their sovereign duties.” Shantal Munro-Knight, Caribbean Policy Development Centre, underlined that the FfD 3 outcome should build on: the recognition of climate change as a primary concern, which needs additional resources beyond the ODA portfolio; the matching of ODA with national development priorities; and rigor in approaching innovative financing mechanisms.

Cristina Diez Saguillo, International Movement ATD Fourth World, called for developed countries to allocate their ODA to the 20% poorest people in developing countries. She stressed the need for investment in statistical capacity to enable disaggregated data for monitoring ODA’s deployment. Mbathio Samb, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), highlighted the need to: ensure the additionality and predictability of the ODA flows; remove conditionality and strengthen national ownership of development strategies for developing countries; agree on strong accountability mechanisms before agreeing on multi-stakeholder partnerships; and strengthen the role of the UN in ensuring the fulfillment of the commitments.

Hahn Choong-hee, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, called for filling the public finance gap through innovative mechanisms and for tackling illicit financial flows. Magnus Lennartsson, Permanent Mission of Sweden, said developed countries should deliver on their 0.7% of GNI commitment, adding that ODA should be targeted to the poorest and most vulnerable, with climate finance as additional to ODA.

Jens Ole Bach Hansen, Permanent Mission of Denmark, said predictable and on-time ODA is extremely important, highlighting the need to reverse the tendency of decreased flows to the least developed countries (LDCs). Gabriel Normand, Permanent Mission of France, noted that the ambition of the agenda needs supplementary sources such as innovative finance, which fall into two categories: innovative sources, such as taxes on financial transaction, air tickets, and carbon; and innovative mechanisms, such as the GAVI fund, IFIM, or green bonds.

Rodrigo Gouveia, International Cooperative Alliance, noted the need for economic democracy and “smart” ODA, and stressed the role of cooperatives.

Opening the discussion on Systemic Issues, Anne Elisabeth Schoenstein, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), highlighted the need for financing gender equality, noting that the FfD 3 zero draft should encourage gender mainstreaming also in development policies, alongside economic and financial policies. Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA Network, underlined that the outcome should endorse the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) principles on responsible borrowing and lending.

Marina Fe B. Durano, Asian Center at University of the Philippines-Diliman, said the FfD process is “held hostage by the SDGs,” which leads to a “complete dilution of the FfD themes.” She said this is “a strategic move so no commitments to be made in Addis.” Lydinyda Nacpil, Jubilee South-Asia/Pacific, called for emphasizing lenders’ responsibilities and looking at trade agreements linked with unsustainable debt, adding that the zero draft ascribes too large a role to the Bretton Woods Institutions in conducting needed reforms.

Richard Darko Amparbeng, Public Service Workers Union Ghana, called for the zero draft to emphasize “decent work” instead of “decent jobs,” with wage bargaining and social dialogue being respected and strengthened.

Opening the discussion on International Trade and Investment, Stefano Prato, Society for International Development (SID), expressed regret at the low presence of Member States at the hearing. He said “multi-stakeholder” has become “a new disease” and is aimed at avoiding binding policies. Maria Del Carmen Gonzalez, Confederacion General Del Trabajo Argentina, stressed the need for: global economic governance that promotes equal distribution of wealth; an inclusive economic architecture; restructuring sovereign debt; and a global agreement on fiscal justice.

Gyekye Tanoh, Third World Network Africa, said that the FfD 3 outcome document should address commodity regimes and the crisis of commodity-dependent economies, which represent “the elephant in the room.” María José Romero, Eurodad, called for emphasizing the role of the public sector as regulator.

Noting that the FfD 3 draft is “excessively pro-business,” Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, Permanent Mission of Brazil, highlighted the need for pro-state, pro-public policies and a pro-people outcome. Stressing the need to strengthen human rights, especially the right to development, he said the responsibility for public policies cannot be outsourced to the private sector. William J. Calvo, Permanent Mission of Costa Rica, highlighted his country’s intention to become carbon neutral by 2021 and its promotion of responsible private sector practices. Salvador De Lara Rangel, Permanent Mission of Mexico, underscored the need for: clear requirements for the private sector; access to financial and banking services; and an open, non-discriminatory and equitable trading system.

Matti Tapani Kohonen, Christian Aid, said the right to development should be a core principle in the Addis Ababa agreement.

The second drafting session of the FfD 3 outcome will take place on 13-17 April 2015, in New York, US. [IISD RS Sources] [Statement of UNGA President] [UN Press Release] [Programme] [Business and Civil Society Involvement in FfD 3] [IISD RS Story on Business Sector Hearing] [UNGA President’s Summary]