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UN Finance for Development Conference fails to Finance Development
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Third FfD FAILING to FINANCE DEVELOPMENT
Civil Society Response to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development
We, members of hundreds of civil society organizations and networks from around the world engaged in the Third FfD Conference, would like to express our deepest concerns and reservations on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, based on both our ongoing contributions to the process and the deliberations of the CSO FfD Forum (Addis Ababa, 10-12 July 2015).
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) lost the opportunity to tackle the structural injustices in the current global economic system and ensure that development finance is people-centred and protects the environment. It does not rise to world’s current multiple challenges, nor does it contain the necessary leadership, ambition and practical actions. It undermines agreements in the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration and it is almost entirely devoid of actionable deliverables. We regret that the negotiations have diminished the FfD mandate to address international systemic issues in macroeconomic, financial, trade, tax, and monetary policies, while also failing to scale up existing resources and commit new financial ones. The AAAA is also deeply inadequate to support the operational Means of Implementation (MoI) for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, exposing an unbridged gap between the rhetoric of the aspirations and reality of the actions.
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Rich countries reject an international plan to let the UN help fight tax evasion
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At a global summit that addressed how illicit financial flows interfere with reducing poverty, wealthy nations rejected a plan to expand the UN’s power to fight global tax evasion.
The plan, promoted by developing economies and transparency groups, was the subject of the meeting between delegations of UN members from around the world in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week. The goal was to figure out how to pay for the next generation of development goals that the UN will adopt later this year.
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The New Debt Trap Report
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New report on how the response to the last global financial crisis has laid the ground for the next.
And on how some countries, like France are building up debts and others, such as Germany, are building up surpluses...
Important Statement Thabo Mbeki on Illicit Financial Flows
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Global Financial Integrity (GFI) welcomes the statements made yesterday by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on illicit financial flows at the third Financing for Development Conference. At an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mbeki noted that in order to address the issue of illicit flows "there needs to be a concerted and sustained campaign around the world." "The principle challenge we face" he said, "is one of implementation." He expressed optimism about the impact the Financing for Development conference will have on illicit flows noting that there is "a common commitment" to address the problem "at a global level and at a national level."
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Why the North is shying away from global cooperation on tax
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One of the more contested issues at the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development currently underway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is how to improve/ensure global cooperation in tax matters. During preparatory negotiations in New York, a proposal surfaced that would upgrade a UN expert committee on the issue into a fullfledged political, and more importantly universal, commission. The commission could deal with issues like fighting tax evasion and avoidance, could set standards for double taxation agreements and for how to deal with transnational corporations. This proposal, however was rejected with force by most OECD governments.
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