21 January 2015: The Co-facilitators for the preparatory process of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3) have circulated “indicative elements” of the Conference outcome document, for consideration at the first drafting session, which convenes on 28-30 January, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. In the accompanying letter, Geir Pedersen (Norway) and George Talbot (Guyana) inform Member States that a zero draft of the outcome document should be provided by the end of February 2015.

The General Assembly requested, in Resolution 68/279 on ‘Modalities for the third International Conference on Financing for Development,’ that the first draft of the outcome document of FfD3 “be prepared by the Co-facilitators on the basis of informal consultations, taking into account inputs from Member States, and presented by February 2015,” and that informal consultations and drafting sessions on the outcome document be held in January, April and June 2015. This resolution also emphasized the need for effective coordination with the preparations of the summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda, and reaffirmed the focus of FfD3 on, inter alia: assessing the progress made in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration; reinvigorating and strengthening the FfD follow-up process; and addressing new and emerging issues. FfD 3 will take place in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia, on 13-16 July 2015.

The Co-facilitators’ Elements Paper, building on the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration, covers the following building blocks: domestic public finance; domestic and international private finance; international public finance; trade, technology, innovation and capacity building; sovereign debt; and systemic issues. It also includes a section on monitoring, data and follow-up, and states that the success of the post-2015 development agenda, including the SDGs, “will hinge on reaching an ambitious agreement on policies, financing, technology transfer, capacity building and systemic issues” at the Conference.

The paper outlines key questions for reflection, including: 1) Do the elements presented cover the most critical dimensions of the agenda? Are the key challenges covered in each of the building blocks? 2) What are concrete policy proposals that can be most transformative to address these challenges? 3) How can the elements presented be made most relevant to and synergistic with the post-2015 agenda and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?; and 4) What should be the key deliverables in Addis Ababa?

For each of the building blocks and section the paper highlights challenges and provides, in annex, an “indicative list of policy ideas” which, it says, “could stimulate more concrete discussions and elicit more specific guidance on the critical components that should comprise the outcome in Addis Ababa.” On this note, it suggests that the Addis outcome will rely on the political will of governments both directly and through the international institutions they control to deliver on commitments, aided by the joint monitoring of their implementation.

According to the Co-facilitators, the indicative list of policy ideas is based on: the substantive informal sessions of the FfD 3 preparatory process held in November and December 2014; inputs contributed by institutional stakeholders, civil society and the business sector; the report of the Open Working Group (OWG) on SDGs; the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF); and the UN Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report on the post-2015 development agenda. [IISD RS Coverage of First Drafting Session] [Meeting Webpage] [Elements Paper and Co-facilitators’ Letter] [IISD RS Coverage of Substantive Preparatory Sessions]