The Least Developed Countries: Expanding the financing tool-box and managing vulnerability
Organised by:
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), The Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Summary:
Light lunch will be served from 12:45 to 1:15 pm
To meet the world’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), developing countries – and in particular LDCs– will need to mobilize more financing. They will also need to more effectively manage volatility, such as international financial and economic instability, disease outbreaks and extreme weather events that can derail development. The volatility associated with these shocks can be especially hard to manage for the poorest and most vulnerable countries which have more limited capacities to cope.
The development finance landscape is fast evolving, and new instruments and approaches are emerging all the time – from blended finance to “green economy” financing to impact investing to lending in local currencies, amongst many others. In many cases however, experiences with these instruments have been limited to certain countries (e.g. middle-income countries) or have been small in scale. While grant financing will continue to play a key role in LDCs’ development in the SDG-period, as countries continue to make development progress and move towards graduation, it is also opportune to explore how LDCs may be able to maximise the opportunities associated with a more dynamic external development financing environment.
AFD and UNDP are preparing a joint analytical paper looking at the extent to which some of these financing approaches may be relevant to LDCs as well as financial instruments that can help LDCs to better manage their continued vulnerability. The work is exploring recent developing country experiences with a variety of financing instruments and provides empirically-grounded policy options for scaling-up some of these approaches to LDCs. It will be presented at the Midterm Review of the Istanbul Program of Action in Antalya, Turkey.
This side event will be an opportunity to hear a preliminary presentation of some of the work’s key findings and recommendations, and to discuss how this work may be relevant to LDCs.
If you do not have a UN ground pass, please RSVP by Friday, April 15th to Ms. Sallem Berhane at sallem.berhane@undp.org indicating your first name, last name, organization and function.
Agenda
12:45-1:15 pm
Arrival and light lunch will be served prior to the meeting outside of CR5.
1:15-1:20 pm
Welcome Remarks by H. E. Mr. André Vallini, Minister of State for Development and Francophonie, France
1:20-1:25 pm
Opening Statement by H. E. Mr. Tegegnework Gettu, Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator, UNDP
1:25-1:35 pm
Presentation of key findings and recommendations of the AFD-UNDP paper by Ms. Gail Hurley, Policy Specialist, Development Finance, UNDP
1:35-2:20 pm
Panel Discussion moderated by Mr. Pedro Conceição, Director, Strategic Policy, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
– H.E. Mr. Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin to the United Nations
– H. E. Mr. Admasu Nebebe Gedamu, Director, UN Agencies and Regional Economic Cooperation and Head of CRGE (Climate Resilient Green Economy) Facility, Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
– Mr. Philippe Orliange, Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Communication, Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Q&A
2:20-2:30 pm Closing Remarks by Mr. Pedro Conceição, Director, Strategic Policy, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
Related information:
Contact:
Nergis Gulasan, nergis.gulasan@undp.org
Sallem Berhane, sallem.berhane@undp.org