New York - From April 22 to 25, SID’s Economic Justice team participated at the UN Financing for Development Forum held at the UN Headquarters.
This annual forum is crucial as it is an intergovernmental process with universal participation mandated to review the Addis Agenda. As part of the yearly cycle of the FfD process, the Forum is part of a truly democratic space where global economic governance is addressed, while having the issues of climate change, inequalities and human rights at its core.
The SID team actively participated as part of the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, the official stakeholder for civil society to engage in the financing for development process. Civil Society Organizations have been involved in the FfD process from the very beginning. Their coordination body is the CS FfD Mechanism, which is an open civil society platform with the single criterion for membership being representation of a public-benefit civil society organization.
This year's forum was especially intense, with debates centered on debt, taxes, and ongoing geopolitics. These discussions are part of the preparatory process for the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). Additionally, the forum set the stage for the first negotiating session of the UN General Assembly's new Ad Hoc Committee on International Tax Cooperation.
One of the most contentious elements of the Forum was the negotiation of the outcome document, particularly paragraphs related to international tax cooperation and unilateral coercive measures (UCMs, also known as sanctions). For the first time since the inception of the FfD Forums in 2016, the outcome document was put to a vote due to disagreements over UCMs, marking a historic moment in the forum's path.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to follow closely the Financing for Development process as a space to advance on the systemic changes we urgently need to see!
For more information, visit the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism website here.
