12 May 2014: UN Member States, international organizations, non-state actors, NGOs, the private sector and representatives of other Major Groups provided input to the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF) during a multi-stakeholder dialogue at the Committee’s fourth session, which is taking place from 12-16 May 2014, in New York, US.

ICESDF Co-Chair Mansur Muhtar told participants that existing global savings and assets will be sufficient to meet current needs if they are efficiently mobilized, and noted the declining importance of official development assistance (ODA) alongside the increasing role of the private sector and domestic resources in the financial architecture. He further underlined the need to combat corruption, curb illicit flows and harmful subsidies, reduce the cost of remittances, and promote South-South cooperation as potential sources of revenue.

Roy Torkelson, UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, said that, due to limited government budgets and scarce ODA, the optimal solution for financing trillions of dollars of infrastructure lies in leveraging domestic and international capital markets to attract private investment. He stressed the need to develop local management and technical expertise to build, operate and manage world-class economic and social infrastructure projects through ODA’s technical assistance and the know-how of development banks. He recommended that new, centralized institutions be reconsidered to review proposed infrastructure projects, and proposed establishing a financial entity to manage the process of routing bankable government-approved projects into the capital markets.

Daniel Tygel, Inter-Continental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS), stated that financial architecture must be considered as an essential common good, and therefore should be managed collectively through agreements where all sectors of society, including the marginalized and the poor, have the power to define its form and means of implementation. He emphasized that, in the economic field, there is a new actor of development – besides the private and public sectors – characterized by a myriad of economic non-profit initiatives with social, cultural and environmental goals, that are collectively managed and owned by the communities. He cited five examples of social solidarity economy financial tools: community banks; community-supported agriculture; local exchange trade systems (LETS); and democratic funds for development.

Jesse Griffiths, European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), emphasized that public investment is still the largest source for development financing, with 80-85% of the investments in infrastructure in developing countries coming from public financing. He urged a reform of the international financial institutions, noting that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) governance is “stuck in the past” with France having more votes than China, and Belgium more votes than Brazil. He further called for extending double majority voting to all IMF’s decisions and for creating a new international court for debt recovery, which should be independent and have transparency and accountability.

The interactive session was organized through the ICESDF’s Committee of Non-State Actors with support from the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS). Other panelists included: Grace Balawag, Tebtebba; Ignacio Saiz, Center for Economic and Social Rights; and Fabio Palacio, International Movement ATD Fourth World.

Stakeholders’ input will be incorporated into the work of ICESDF before its last session, on 4-8 August 2014, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. [ICESDF Meeting Website] [IISD RS Sources]