AIDE MEMOIRE

DAY OF DIALOGUE ON GENDER AND FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT New York, 25 February 2002

Background and purpose

The United Nations will convene an International Conference on Financing for Development in Mexico in 2002. The objective of the conference is to bring together policy makers from all over the world to discuss ways to enhance the mobilization of financial resources - private and public, domestic and international - and the channelling of such resources towards development goals. Financing for development involves efficient mobilization of domestic and international resources and their allocation. National policies - fiscal, financial and trade policies - and the institutional environment influence the decisions of economic actors and ultimately shape the mobilization of resources for development. The agenda of the Conference focuses on critical issues such as: mobilization of domestic and international financial resources, including foreign direct investment; international financial cooperation for development through official development assistance; trade; debt; and systemic issues.

The Interagency Network on Women and Gender Equality works actively to promote gender mainstreaming throughout the work of the United Nations. Given the critical importance of the International Conference on Financing for Development, particularly in the context of the development goals endorsed in the Millennium Declaration, in October 2000 the Interagency Meeting established an interagency task force to work on financing for development. The task force is charged with facilitating the incorporation of relevant gender perspectives in each of the areas included in the preparations for the International Conference on Financing for Development. The task force aims to: § investigate the gender perspectives in relation to all critical issues raised in the financing for development agenda and to disseminate the findings broadly; § highlight the commitments already made by Member States to bring greater attention to gender perspectives in all areas addressed in the discussions on financing for development, through, for example, the intergovernmental mandates on promoting gender equality in relation to these areas; § promote greater dialogue on the gender perspectives in financing for development between different groups, such as Member States, the United Nations, NGOs and civil society groups and the private sector; § and provide opportunities for gender specialists working in the different areas of financing for development to present their findings, for example, through organizing panel discussions in conjunction with PrepComs and other meetings.

The task force has prepared a preliminary analysis of the gender perspectives in the financing for development agenda: "Mainstreaming gender perspectives in issues addressed in the preparations for the International Conference on Financing for Development. An initial analysis" as well as an overview of the intergovernmental mandates on the gender perspectives relating to the issues covered by the financing for development agenda: "Intergovernmental mandates on incorporating gender perspectives in the issues covered by the International Conference on Financing for Development". These documents may be found on the UN website: WomenWatch.

As part of the efforts of the task force to bring greater attention to gender perspectives, a Day of Dialogue will be organized by the task force on 25 February 2002 to provide an opportunity for representatives of Member States, the United Nations, NGO and civil society groups, the private sector and research institutes to dialogue on the relevant gender perspectives on all areas of financing for development and the ways these perspectives can be addressed in the context of the international conference in 2002. The purpose is to influence the preparations for the conference, the conference itself and any follow-up activities.

Objectives and expected outcomes for the Day of Dialogue

The objectives of the Day of Dialogue are to: a) Create greater understanding among participants of the gender perspectives in the different issues being addressed in the preparations for the International Conference on Financing for Development; b) Identify opportunities for giving greater attention to these gender perspectives in the preparations for and follow up to the conference; c) Make concrete recommendations for actions to be taken by all actors in the area of financing for development.

The Day of Dialogue is expected to result in a short document on gender and financing for development for broad dissemination prior to, during and after the international conference.

Format of the Day of Dialogue

The Day of Dialogue will bring together around 65 invited participants from Member States, the United Nations, NGOs and civil society groups, the private sector and research institutes. Member States representatives are invited through the Chairpersons of the Regional Groups. The Day of Dialogue will be moderated by the Chairperson of the Interagency Network.

An initial plenary session will give a broad overview of the gender perspectives in the financing for development agenda and raise some key questions to be addressed. Participants will then discuss a number of key issues in working groups and report back to plenary at the end of the day. The working groups will be moderated by gender specialists in the different areas being addressed by the working groups. The working group sessions will focus on the six issues raised in preparations for the international conference: domestic financial resources; international resources for development; trade; ODA: debt; systemic issues.

The discussions in the working group sessions will also touch on other critical issues raised in the preparations which were topics for specific technical notes, for example, taxation, corruption, innovative sources of financing, participation of developing countries in decision-making, debt restructuring, market access to exports of developing countries, codes of conduct in multilateral and bilateral investment agreements and practices, financial crisis prevention, international liquidity and micro-credit and shift to formal banking systems.

The final plenary session will summarize the main findings and recommendations to be included in the report from the Day of Dialogue.