Concept Note and Provisional Programme

New York – 9 April 2015, Trusteeship Council Chamber

Background

The informal interactive hearings on 9 April will be the principal forum for civil society to contribute their views to the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) Conference. Since the zero draft of the outcome document for the Conference will be available in March, the interactive hearings will provide an opportunity for a diversity of stakeholders to provide important feedback and inputs at an early stage of the process toward the evolution of the outcome document.

The Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) aims to reinvigorate and strengthen the financing for development framework as well as support the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda currently being negotiated by Member States.

Resolution 68/279 OP 6 “emphasizes the need for effective coordination between the preparatory process for the third International Conference on Financing for Development and the preparations for the summit to be held in September 2015 for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, in order to promote coherence and to minimize duplication of effort.”

Taking place before the second drafting session of FfD3 and the joint session of post-2015 development agenda and Financing for Development on Means of Implementation (MOI) and global partnership for sustainable development, the hearings will also offer opportunity for discussions between civil society, the private sector, and Member States on fostering coherence between the FfD3 and post-2015 processes.

Objective

Drawing on the results of consultations with civil society, the proposed organization of the programme is intended to:

a) Foster high-level participation;
b) provide civil society the opportunities to lead a day of panel discussions with representatives from various multi-stakeholder groups;
c) Discuss the zero draft of the FfD3 Conference outcome document and contribute to the next revision of the outcome document;
d) Underscore linkages with the post-2105 development agenda negotiations, as well as accountability and follow up mechanisms.

Format

The one-day hearing will be divided into an opening plenary, four interactive roundtable discussions and a closing. The provisional themes for the four panel discussions are outlined below, and may be adjusted after the release of the draft outcome document for the FfD3 Conference.

Outcome

The President of the United Nations General Assembly circulated a summary of the hearings to Member States and all relevant stakeholders.

Provisional Programme

10:00-10:30am – Opening Plenary

H.E. Mr. Nicholas Emiliou, Acting President of the UN General Assembly, 69th session
Mr. Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, UN DESA (TBC)
Ms. Tessa Khan – Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
Mr. Nazeem Martin – Managing Director, Business Partners Ltd.

Guiding questions for the opening session:

1) How should the outcome of the FfD3 Conference advance the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration?
2) How can the FfD3 process improve coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of development?
3) Given that challenges such as climate change, accelerated environmental degradation, and social and economic inequalities are now more pronounced, what is the role of the FfD3 process to address these issues?
4) How can we ensure that the FfD3 process is coherent and supports the realisation of the SDGs?

10:30-11:45am – Roundtable Discussion 1
Domestic public resource mobilization, including international tax cooperation

Co-moderated by one of the Co-Facilitators and Corina Rodriguez Enriquez – National Council of Research (Conicet-Argentina), DAWN

In 2011 developing countries lost an estimated US$ 1 trillion through capital flight according to conservative estimates. Eighty per cent of these financial flows came from systemic and deliberate minimisation of the tax share of multinational companies and wealthy individuals. According to recent research the richest 1 per cent of people in the world own 48 per cent of global wealth, leaving just 52 per cent to be shared between the other 99 per cent of adults on the planet. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty has observed that “States are undoubtedly hamstrung in their efforts to enact progressive taxation and combat illicit financial flows that could combat inequality and resource better economic, social and cultural rights realisation.” There is still much to be done to fulfil the Doha Declaration’s commitment to step up efforts to enhance tax revenues through modernised tax systems, more efficient tax collection, broadening the tax base and effectively combating tax evasion.

Guiding questions for this discussion:

1) What actions are needed at the international level, including on tax cooperation and governance, to fulfil the Financing for Development agenda on domestic resource mobilisation? What should be the concrete outcomes of the FfD3 Conference in relation to these actions?
2) What measures are needed to ensure that domestic resources mobilisation, as well as related issues of international cooperation and global governance, contribute to the post-2015 development agenda?
3) What strategies should be implemented to ensure the effective and inclusive use of domestic resources? What role or potential is there for the Social Solidarity Economy to meet the sustainable development challenges?

Panelists (5 min each):
Mr. Sameer Fazal Dossani – ActionAid International
Ms. Tove Maria Ryding – European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad)
Mr. Norhan Sherif Mokhtar – Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
Mr. Kudakwashe Dube – International Disability and Development Consortium;
Africa Disability Alliance

Member State respondents (5 min each)

Lead civil society respondent:
Mr. Nicholas Lusiani – Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR)

11:45-1:00pm – Roundtable Discussion 2
International public finance, including ODA and innovative sources of finance

Co-moderated by one of the Co-Facilitators and Mr. Emad Adly – Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED)

The Official Development Assistance (ODA) target of 0.7% of GNP is yet to be fulfilled by most development partners. Progress on aid quality commitments is also needed, including through use of country systems for activities managed by the public sector, aid alignment to national priorities and harmonization across development partners, reduction of transaction costs, mutual accountability and transparency, and aid untying.

Guiding questions for this discussion:

1) How can we collectively ensure that investments in critical areas – such as public health or renewable energy – will minimize risk and future costs in the years to come?
2) ODA is still often the largest source of finance for some Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). How can we ensure a catalytic and transformational role for LDCs and SIDS so they own their process for greatest impact?
3) How can we encourage innovative finance mechanisms for development, like the financial transactions tax, as well as social and solidarity-based finance?

Panelists (5 min each):
Mr. Claudio Guedes Fernandes – ABONG- Brazilian Association of NGOs
Ms. Shantal Munro- Knight – Caribbean Policy Development Centre
Ms. Cristina Diez Saguillo – International Movement ATD Fourth World
Ms. Mbathio Samb – IDEP (African Institute for Economic Development and Planning); CERAG (Centre d’Etude et de Recherche-Action sur la Gouvernance) and DAWN

Member State respondents (3 min each)
Lead civil society respondent – TBC

3:00-4:30pm – Roundtable Discussion 3
Systemic issues, including global economic governance and external debt

Co-moderated by one of the Co-Facilitators and Mr. Aldo Caliari – Center of Concern/CIDSE

The reforms undertaken in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2008 are yet to fully address the systemic failures of the pre-crisis international architecture. There are still loopholes in regulation The debt situation in many countries is a matter for concern. The outcomes from both Monterrey and Doha include clear commitments towards an international debt mechanism, but governments are yet to implement this commitment.

Guiding questions for this discussion:

1) How can the FfD3 Conference address ongoing deficiencies in the financial and monetary system that pose obstacles to the achievement of sustainable development?
2) How can the FfD3 Conference further efforts to address the deficiencies in the current regime to address sovereign debt problems or crises?
3) How can the follow-up process of the FfD3 Conference ensure the effective implementation of its outcomes?
4) How can we ensure global economic governance, policies, and programs that reduce the inequality gap to ensure a more equitable creation and distribution of wealth and prosperity?

Panelists (5 min each):
Ms. Anne Elisabeth Schoenstein – Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
Ms. Lydinyda Nacpil – Jubilee South – Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development
Ms. Marina Fe B. Durano – Asian Center at University of the Philippines-Diliman and DAWN
Mr. Eric LeCompte – Jubilee USA Network

Member State respondents (3 min each)
Lead civil society respondent – TBC

4:30-5:45pm – Civil Society Roundtable Discussion 4
International trade and investment, including private finance

Co-moderated by one of the Co-Facilitators and Mr. Mark Langevin – Public Services International

A vital measure of the development impact of both foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade are the opportunities they create for sustainable development and decent employment. Evidence shows, however, that LDCs attract the least amounts of FDI, unless they are major exporters of natural resources, and that international trade can, in some instances, undermine global development objectives.

The creation of an enabling environment for business or ease of doing business, both in terms of trade and FDI, can be perceived as being synonymous with reductions in corporate income tax and a more lax regulatory environment (consider, e.g. the World Bank’s “Doing Business” rankings), which contradicts other aspects of the FfD agenda.

Guiding questions for this discussion:

1) What measures are needed to ensure the reform of international trade regime so that it supports contributes to sustainable development, in particular poverty eradication and greater equality?
2) How to ensure that Foreign Direct Investment contributes to sustainable development?
3) What measures are needed to ensure the accountability of all actors in Global Value Chains? How do we promote Global Value Chains that contribute to sustainable Development?
4) How can financing be directed to enterprises, notably in the social and solidarity economy sector, that work at the grassroots to create decent jobs, ensure gender equality and empowerment of women, and improve sustainable livelihoods in the communities?

Panelists (5 min each):
Mr. Stefano Prato – Society for International Development (SID)
Ms. Maria Del Carmen Gonzalez – Confederacion General Del Trabajo Argentina
Mr. Gyekye Tanoh – Third World Network Africa
Ms. María José Romero – Eurodad

Member State respondents (3 min each)

Lead civil society respondent – Mr. Matti Tapani Kohonen – Christian Aid

5:45-6:00pm –Closing

Co-facilitators: H.E. Mr. George Wilfred Talbot (Guyana) and H.E. Mr. Geir. O. Pedersen (Norway)