14 July 2015
FfD3 Opens in Addis, UN Secretary-General Urges Consensus on Outcome
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The third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) opened at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Conference is taking place from 13-16 July 2015.

ffd3_iisdrs13 July 2015: The third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) opened at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Conference is taking place from 13-16 July 2015.

FfD3 is mandated by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to: assess progress in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration; strengthen the financing for development follow-up process; identify obstacles encountered in the achievement of previously agreed goals and objectives, and actions and initiatives to overcome these constraints; and address new and emerging issues, including the synergies between financing objectives across the three dimensions of sustainable development, and the need to support the UN post-2015 development agenda.

During the opening plenary of the Conference, a Main Committee chaired by Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia, was established to consider the FfD3 draft outcome, on which UN Member States could not find agreement during the six months of negotiations held in New York, US.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon explained that the FfD3 outcome includes concrete policy commitments in six areas: a new social compact for quality investment in delivering social protection and essential public services for all, including health, education, energy, water and sanitation, and infrastructure; a package for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including a commitment to increase official development assistance (ODA), to set up investment promotion regimes for LDCs, and to operationalize the technology bank for LDCs by 2017; a new Technology Facilitation Mechanism, to help facilitate the development, transfer and dissemination of relevant technologies for the sustainable development goals (SDGs); greater international cooperation in tax matters to stem the tide of illicit financial flows; gender equality, which is mainstreamed throughout the outcome; and the protection and preservation of natural resources, biodiversity and climate. He urged world leaders and ministers gathered in Addis to overcome “narrow self-interest” in favor of working together for the common well-being of humanity and agree on the outcome.

The high-level statements continued in the afternoon, and a multi-stakeholder roundtable on ‘Global partnership and the three dimensions of sustainable development’ also took place.

During the roundtable, Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, noted that ODA is “the cornerstone” of financing for development, especially in the poorest and most fragile countries. He said the post-2015 agenda and the goal of ending extreme poverty will require strong and “creative” partnerships to turn billions in ODA into trillions in investments, through crowding in private sector financing, stopping illicit financial flows, and increasing domestic resource mobilization.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cited areas where the efforts to turn billions into trillions will be crucial, such as bridging infrastructure financing gaps, particularly in Africa, promoting regional integration, and addressing hunger and malnutrition, including through sustainable agriculture.

The Conference is expected to include eight plenaries, and six multi-stakeholder roundtables on two themes: global partnership and the three dimensions of sustainable development; and ensuring policy coherence and an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development. In addition, a number of side events will be held, along with an International Business Forum on 14 July. A Civil Society Organizations Global Forum was held on 11-12 July. [IISD RS Coverage of FfD3] [IISD RS Story on FfD3 Outcome] [UN Press Release][Secretary General Statement]


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