The Ninth Retreat of the Group of Friends of Monterey on Financing for Development (FfD)

All discussions at the retreat were held under Chatham House Rules to facilitate open exchange and consensus-building. The retreat aimed to advance the FfD agenda and lay the groundwork for future agreements on financing for development.

A small delegation from the Civil Society FfD Mechanism participated in the retreat, ensuring that key civil society demands towards Sevilla were represented. Additionally, Mr. Junhua Li, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, provided a video intervention emphasizing the urgent need for multilateral collaboration. He highlighted that, at a time when global institutions faced increasing threats, coordinated action was essential. Countries needed adequate fiscal and policy space, effective international support, and an enabling environment to implement necessary transformations.

The event underscored why FfD4 is a pivotal moment to to re-affirm multilateral values, create the policy and fiscal space for global south countries to finance their development in a sustainable way. Affirm the centrality of UN’s role on global economic and financial governance. And remove the systemic and structural barriers to socio-economic transformation and the re-design of global economic governance.