11 April 2019: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) released a guidance note on an innovative development financing approach known as cross-sectoral co-financing. The approach aims to increase the efficiency of development interventions. It is designed to be used by public sector development planners and partners in their efforts to achieve the SDGs.

UNDP developed the financing approach in collaboration with the STRIVE Research Consortium (STRIVE), which is supported by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Government of Japan. The guidance note was issued in the lead-up to the fourth session of the UN Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up (FfD Forum), which took place in April 2019.

The report titled, ‘Financing Across Sectors for Sustainable Development: Guidance Note,’ argues that governments should prioritize “high-value” development interventions that will contribute to policy aims and outcomes across more than one sector. As an example, the report cites UNDP’s Solar for Health initiative, which equips health centers with solar panels, thus improving the quality of healthcare facilities (SDG 3) and at the same time increasing access to electricity (SDG 7).

Another example of cross-sectoral financing is the provision of cash transfers to the poor, which responds both to SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). Other outcomes from providing cash transfers could include improved nutritional status of recipients and their families (SDG 2), bringing education within reach of the poor (SDG 4), providing greater opportunities to women (SDG 5) and improving livelihoods (SDG 8).

The authors note that governments tend to calculate the cost effectiveness of development interventions based on a narrow set of outcomes within a single sector, rather than considering spillover benefits to other sectors. In co-financing, planners from different sectors co-fund a specific development intervention or investment area that advances their respective objectives simultaneously. The guidance note highlights that adopting a co-financing approach does not necessarily require additional resources, but rather optimizes the allocation of existing resources across sectors. [Publication: Financing Across Sectors for Sustainable Development: Guidance Note]