The FfD Chronicle

Following yesterday’s discussion on systemic issues was like watching some nightmarish rendition of the Emperor’s New Clothes. Can we please just be honest about what’s really happening? This issue also discusses how the three previous conferences on Financing for Development, regardless of the technicalities, managed to keep a high standard for civil society access.

The trade section in the zero draft offers some positive entry points for addressing some of the current challenges restricting the role of trade as a development tool for the Global South. The comments from Member States yesterday during the Third Prep Com confirm this. However, the level of ambition must be raised in order to ensure that such challenges are addressed

The FfD Chronicle is puzzled that an issue as important as the assurance of transparency and inclusion of this process has remained in the drawers of the Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Bureau of the 4th International Conference on FfD for too long. We are already halfway through the Third Preparatory Committee Session (3rd PrepCom), and there is an understated assumption that it is okay to undermine civic space as long as everyone pretends that some enforced technicalities fell from the sky, with no one being truly responsible for such regression.

As civil society, we laboured through the long zero draft, trying to make sense of often contradictory messages, to provide a comprehensive response. We hope governments will review our inputs carefully. In the meantime, here is a summary!

Yesterday, the U.S. delegation offered a very clear illustration of why consensus-rules would be deeply inappropriate in the UN Tax Convention negotiations.

We hope you have had a refreshing tax break and we are delighted to see you back again. Now we have important work to do – it’s time to write tax history!

The ’wait and see’ game is mortgaging the lives of the most vulnerable at a time when uncertainty reigns supreme. A UN Framework Convention on Debt brings a certain level of predictability in handling debt restructuring. It further offers a hope that multilateralism, in the face of poly-crisis, is still alive and kicking!

The role of FfD4 must be to help the UN Tax Convention process forward – not pull it backwards.

As the second Preparatory Committee Session for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) kicks off, we celebrate the champions who are calling for real ambition and action. These governments are driving forward bold calls and commitments to elevate the FfD4 agenda. The FfD Chronicle commends these calls and encourage others to join in, amplifying support for these calls to ensure impactful outcomes at FfD4.