Participants recognized the role of financing in implementing a sustainable development agenda, at a meeting on ‘Post-2015 Financing for Development' on the sidelines of the 2014 annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Discussions addressed key pillars for a financing approach to the post-2015 development agenda, familiarized Ministers of Finance and Development with discussions on the post-2015 agenda, including the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and shared lessons learned.
10 October 2014: Participants recognized the role of financing in implementing a sustainable development agenda, at a meeting on ‘Post-2015 Financing for Development’ on the sidelines of the 2014 annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Discussions addressed key pillars for a financing approach to the post-2015 development agenda, familiarized Ministers of Finance and Development with discussions on the post-2015 agenda, including the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and shared lessons learned.
“A strong agreement on Financing for Development will lay the groundwork for an ambitious post-2015 agenda and an agreement on climate,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in remarks at the event. He stressed the importance of the third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in July 2015, saying the Conference outcome either can be a milestone for the Summit on the post-2015 agenda, or “it can undermine the credibility of the entire enterprise.” Ban noted three contributions of the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF): the development of an analytical framework; a basket of more than 115 policy options; and suggested areas for advancing global partnerships. Ban also highlighted the role of multilateral development banks (MDBs) in unlocking private financing, and noted that banks can help to structure financial instruments to leverage private resources “through public ones to achieve sustainable development.”
Speakers from the MDBs also stressed the role of MDBs in financing the post-2015 agenda. Some underscored accountability, shared responsibility and partnerships as critical means of implementation (MOI). Participants also recommended, inter alia: increasing investments in infrastructure; mobilizing domestic resources; ramping up private finance; and ensuring country ownership.
The MDBs hosted the event as part of a process to prepare a joint paper on financing for development. The 2014 annual meetings took place from 10-12 October 2014, in Washington, DC, US. [Event Website] [UN Secretary-General Remarks] [Annual Meetings Website]