12 September 2016
UN Secretary-General Reports on Financing for SDGs
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In preparation for the 71st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the UN Secretary-General released reports on financing for development outlining where the international community stands on support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

ga-71-logo8 August 2016: In preparation for the 71st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the UN Secretary-General released reports on financing for development outlining where the international community stands on support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The report, titled ‘Follow-up to the International Conferences on Financing for Development’ (A/71/311), provides an “initial assessment of progress” and an overview of steps taken to implement international agreements on financing for development since the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA). The AAAA was adopted during the third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD), which place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 13-16 July 2015.

The report recalls that the annual UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up (FfD Forum) met for the first time from 18-20 April 2016, and the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation (STI) for the SDGs held its initial meeting from 6-7 June 2016. It adds that ECOSOC has not decided yet on the dates for the 2017 FfD Forum, and calls for a timely decision on dates, themes and other organizational matters of the 2017 Forum, as agreed in the outcome of the 2016 Forum, to facilitate preparatory work by the UN Secretariat and by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development.

The report also notes, in a section on cross-cutting issues: the holding of the Global Infrastructure Forum on 16 April 2016, during the 2016 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group; a joint programme aimed at realizing universal social protection initiated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank; and the launch, by the EU in September 2015, of a three-year Social Protection Systems Programme to assist ten low-and middle-income countries to build sustainable and inclusive social protection systems.

On action areas, the report discusses domestic public resources, domestic and international private business and finance, international development cooperation, international trade as an engine for development, debt and debt sustainability, addressing systemic issues, and science, technology, innovation and capacity-building. It notes that foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing countries reached a new high of US$765 billion in 2015, but FDI flows are expected to fall by 10-15% in 2016. It also states that developing countries have “sharply increased” their participation in global trade since 2000, reaching over 40% in 2015, but the volume of world exports has grown by less than 3% per year since 2012.

The report of the Secretary-General on ‘International Financial System and Development’ (A/71/312) includes sections on international financial flows to developing countries, strengthening the international financial architecture in support of the 2030 Agenda, and illicit financial flows and international tax cooperation. It highlights the importance of a stable financial system and of sustainable investments, noting that to date, the international financial system has not adequately allocated resources for long-term sustainable development needs, and the weak global economy makes implementation of the 2030 Agenda more challenging.

On official development assistance (ODA), preliminary figures in 2015 showed an increase to US$131.6 billion, “representing a rise of 6.9 per cent in real terms over 2014,” the report says. The report also states that ODA to the poorest countries increased in 2015 for the first time in several years, and that bilateral aid to the least developed countries (LDCs) rose by 4% in real terms in 2015, amounting to US$25 billion. The report adds that research carried out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2015 estimated that the debt of emerging market non-financial corporations had risen from US$4 trillion in 2004 to over US$18 trillion in 2014, which is a “concern about financial stability.”

On illicit financial flows and international tax cooperation, the report calls for ensuring that developing countries, including the LDCs, receive the benefit of information exchange on tax matters in terms of support for the information technology needed for automatic exchange, capacity-building on seeking exchanges and responding to requests, and on data analysis and risk assessment. It also states that the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters met in October 2015 and adopted an extensive programme of work, including the creation of two new subcommittees on royalties and on dispute avoidance and resolution. It notes that ECOSOC has yet to decide on the dates and venue of the future sessions of the Committee.

UNGA 71 will open on 13 September 2016. [Report of the Secretary-General: Follow-up to the International Conferences on Financing for Development] [Report of the Secretary-General: International financial system and development]


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