The document provides an overview of the Financing for Development (FfD) process, including its origins in response to the 1990s Asian/global financial crisis. It discusses key events and outcomes, such as the 2002 Monterrey Conference and the Monterrey Consensus establishing commitments around six areas of FfD. It also discusses the 2008 Doha Conference and Declaration, as well as other FfD-related UN events and processes leading up to the 2015 Addis Ababa Conference. Civil society involvement is also summarized, including perspectives from the Women's Working Group on FfD advocating for gender equality and women's empowerment in FfD processes and outcomes.

1. Overview of the Financing for
Development process
OMOYEMEN LUCIA ODIGIE-EMMANUEL
GENDER JUSTICE & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NETWORK/
CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH
African Feminist Meeting on FfD & Post-2015, May 6-8 2015

2. BACKGROUND TO FFD
The origin of the Financing for Development
(FfD) process can be linked to the Asian/global
financial crisis of 1990s which raised fears of a
worldwide economic meltdown.
In response, the UN General Assembly agreed
to convene an International Conference on
Financing for Development which was finally
held in March 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico.

3. Monterrey Conference
 The main purpose of the Conference was to strategize on
how to half world poverty by 2015 AND to find ways to
finance programmes and policies that would radically
change the lives of the 1.2 billion people living on less than
a dollar a day.
 The formal outcome of the Conference was the “Monterrey
Consensus” consisting of commitments designed to
“eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and
promote sustainable development” in the world’s poorest
countries.

4. Monterrey Consensus
 The document embraces six areas of Financing for Development:
 Mobilizing domestic financial resources for development.
 Mobilizing international resources for development: foreign direct
investment and other private flows.
 International Trade as an engine for development.
 Increasing international financial and technical cooperation for
development.
 External Debt.
 Addressing systemic issues: enhancing the coherence and consistency of
the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of
development.
 Subject of discussion by my co-presenter

5. Pre Doha Conference
 The Conference was preceded by a high-level retreat
on the global financial crisis.
 The retreat was attended by some 30 Heads of State
or Government and ministers from both developed and
developing countries, as well as high-level
representatives of the major institutional
stakeholders.
 The retreat was meant to serve as a “bridge” between
the discussions on the financial crisis that had taken
place among smaller groups of countries and the wider
membership of the United Nations.

6. Doha Conference
 2008 Follow-up Conference in Doha, Qatar to review the Implementation of
the Monterrey Consensus. The Doha Declaration on Financing for Development
urged Governments to continue to innovate in development finance. The
conference consisted of plenary meetings, Six interactive multi-stakeholder
round tables focused on the six thematic areas of the Monterey Consensus and
More than 50 side events.
Two key messages:
 A strong commitment by developed countries to maintain their Official
Development Assistance (ODA) targets irrespective of the current financial
crisis.
 A decision to hold a UN Conference at the highest level on the impact of the
current financial and economic crisis on development.
 Domestic resource mobilization: Mobilizing international resources for
development: International trade as an engine for development: External debt:
and Addressing systemic issues.

7. OTHER EVENTS
 In January 2004 in Geneva, the presidents of Brazil, Chile and France launched, with
the support of the United Nations Secretary-General, an initiative, which urged the
international community to develop new sources of financing for development in
order to make progress towards achieving the MDGs.
 At the 2005 World Summit, 79 countries approved theNew York Declaration on
InnovativeSources of Financing for Development, co-sponsored by Algeria, Brazil,
Chile, France,Germany and Spain.
 The United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its
Impact on Development (New York, 24-30 June 2009) acknowledged that innovative
financing for development can contribute to addressing global problems
 On 20 December 2010, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/65/146on
" Innovative mechanisms of financing for development " in which it recalls "the
potential of innovative sources of financing to contribute to the achievement of the
internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs”.

8.  The General Assembly held a series of substantive informal sessions,
from October to December 2014.
 The substantive sessions served to review the progress made in the
implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration on
Financing for Development, and to discuss new and emerging issues to
be addressed at the Addis Ababa Conference, notably in the context of
the post-2015 development agenda.
 The two rounds of substantive informal sessions were focused on:
 Mobilization and effective use of resources (10-13 November 2014)
 Enabling environment, systemic issues, follow-up process and learning
from partnerships (9-12 December 2014).

9. Preparatory Process to the Third International
Conference
 Opening Session
The first substantive informal session of the preparatory process for the third International
Conference on Financing for Development was held on Friday 17 October 2014 in the ECOSOC
Chamber. It marked the launch of the intergovernmental preparations for the Conference, in
accordance with General Assembly resolution 68/279.
 First Round of Substantive Informal Sessions (10 – 13 November 2014)
Discussion Focus-on the Global context; Domestic public finance; International public finance and
Private finance
 Second Round of Substantive Informal Sessions (9 – 12 December 2014)
 Discussion Focus-Enabling and conducive policy environment; International monetary and
financial system; International tax cooperation; Debt crisis prevention and resolution; Trade,
investment, and technology; Governance; Closing data gaps and strengthening statistical
capabilities; Enabling and conducive governance, including global economic governance;
Learning from partnerships and follow-up process

10.  Drafting Sessions
 Zero draft of the Outcome document of the Third International Conference on Financing for
Development , 15 March 2015 and now the revised draft of yesterday, 6 May 2015
 The Addis Ababa Accord of the Third International Conference on Financing for
Development
 Drafting Sessions
 27-29 January 2015First Drafting Session
 13-17 April 2015Second Drafting Session
 15-19 June 2015Third Drafting Session
 Additional Consultations
 In support of continued progress on the Outcome Document, additional sessions for consultations
on the Draft Outcome Document have been scheduled.
 11-15 May 2015Additional session 1
 26-29 May 2015Additional session 2
 1-5 June 2015(Provisional) Additional session 3

11. Regional Consultation on FFD
The Regional Consultation on “Financing for
Development” was organized by the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa on the 23 – 24
March 2015 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Africa Group Perspective on Financing for
Development (The Common Africa Position) was
adopted.
There is an upcoming UNECA Africa Women’s
Consultation on FFD in June

12. Africa Group Perspective on Financing for
Development
 Introduction
 Domestic Public Financing
 International Public Finance
 Mobilizing International resources for development: Foreign Direct
Investment and other private flows
 Trade
 External debt
 Systematic Issues
 Science, Technology, Innovation and Capacity Building
 Monitoring, Data and Follow-up

13. Upcoming Events
 Additional sessions for consultations on the Draft Outcome
Document
11-15 May 2015
 Additional sessions for consultations on the Draft Outcome
Document
26-29 May 2015
 (Provisional) Additional sessions for consultations on the Draft
Outcome Document
1-5 June 2015
 Third Drafting Session
15-19 June 2015
 Africa Women’s Consultation on Financing for Sustainable
Development, June 2015

14. CIVIL SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT
WHY CSO INTEREST?
 We need an ambitious SDGs backed by finances to be able to achieve actual sustainable
Development.
 More financial resources are needed to finance development goals and strategies globally
 A paradigm shift on how development will be financed is required.
CIVIL SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT
 Civil Society Parallel Event in Monterrey
 Doha Civil Society Forum: Investing in people-centered development
 Women’s Working Group On FFD since Doha, went silent for some years, reactivated recently
and actively involved in engaging the process
 Africa’s working Group on post 2015

15. Doha Civil Society Forum: Investing in
people-centered development
More than 250 civil society organizations and networks participated in the
meeting in preparation for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing
for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.
The declaration put forward a number of key recommendations, organized
around the six thematic areas of the Monterrey Consensus.
I. On domestic resource mobilization, the Declaration affirms that in order to
achieve the international development goals and overcome dependence on
external sources, developing countries need to substantially increase revenue
from national resources, and channel them towards meeting the needs of the
people living in poverty.

16. II. With respect to foreign direct investment the Declaration calls for a holistic
approach that includes, among others, the social development aspects, sustainable
technology transfer and elimination of tax havens that deny poor countries much
needed financial resources for development.
III. Concerning trade, it concludes that the impact of the global financial crisis in
developing countries is exposing vulnerabilities that stem from too much emphasis
on the liberalization of trade, without looking at mechanisms for ensuring that trade
provides a stable source of development finance.
IV. On the question of aid, civil society organizations called for binding timetables
for donor countries to reach the 0.7% ODA/GNI target by 2015 at the latest.
Innovative sources of finance, such as a small currency transaction tax, can provide
much needed additional resources for development.

17. V. As for external debt, the Declaration calls for a new debt architecture that is
inclusive, participatory and democratically accountable to the peoples it aims to
serve. The United Nations should play a key role in its development, and the
institutions and mechanisms should be subject to international human rights norms
and treaties.
VI. With regard to systemic issues, the Declaration calls for a new mechanism
within the UN, which ensures implementation of the internationally agreed
development goals and brings together all institutional stakeholders. The UN should
hold a major international Summit level conference in order to comprehensively
review the international financial architecture and global economic governance
structures.

18. WOMEN’S WORKING GROUP ON FFD
 Despite the upward trend in aid focused on gender equality since the MDGs,
significant funding gaps remain in priority areas for the post-2015 framework -
women’s economic empowerment, family planning, women, peace and security,
and women’s participation and leadership. It is time to close these gaps.
 OECD Development Assistance Committee
The Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD) was
formed in October 2007 as an alliance of women's organizations and networks to
advocate for the advancement of gender equality, women's empowerment and
human rights in the Financing for Development (FfD) related UN processes.
 The WWG is part of the Global Social Economic Group (GSEG) and is one of the
NGO Facilitators in the Financing for Development Process.

19. WOMEN’S WORKING GROUP ON FFD Pre-
Doha Review Conference on FFD Nov, 2008
MAIN DEMANDS:
 A demand policy action.
 concrete steps to increase resources for gender equality to fulfil women's
rights and empowerment.
 A commitment to eliminate gender-based discrimination acknowledging
women's full and equal access to economic resources and the importance of
gender responsive public management.
 A demand for stronger gender equality policy commitments and actions
throughout the document on development, trade, finance, debt, aid and
systemic issues.

20.  A demand for effective spaces in all follow-up mechanisms with
consistent and regular inputs on gender equality ensuring the
participation of women's rights organizations and networks, and
gender equality advocates.
 Follow-up to the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus
the general commitment to gender equality, analysis and
monitoring tools and indicators.
 A demand for open transparent and inclusive multi-stakeholder
process providing institutional spaces for women's rights
organizations and gender equality advocates in the follow-up to the
implementation of the Monterrey Consensus
 full and gender sensitive analysis of the structural issues that underpin
international economic and financial

21. Other Intervention by WWG on FFD Includes
 A call for rights based responses to the global financial and economic crisis;
Repositioning of the UN's leadership role in a new global development,
economic and financial architecture that fully integrates gender equality and
women’s rights; and immediate reform of the global financial architecture to
effectively manage liquidity shortages and payments imbalances and ensure
that policy responses do not shift the burden of adjustment to the care
economy. June 2009.
 Written input from the Women’s Working Group on Financing for
Development to the 2nd round of Substantive Informal Sessions New York, 9
to 12 December 2014. Can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/WWG-on-FFD_input-
to-3rd-round-of-SISs.pdf
 WWG Response to the Addis Ababa Accord Zero Draft

22. EXTRACT FROM WWG RESPONSE TO ZERO DRAFT:ISSUES
 The Zero Draft does not go far enough in calling for the reduction and redistribution of care work through
quality care servicesThere is no mention of dedicated resources to advance gender equality and women’s
human rights, as stated in both the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration, so the language here is
inadequate and regressive.
 the Zero Draft limits the call to mainstream gender into economic and finance policies, rather than
development policies, in all facets and at all levels as stated in the Monterrey and Doha documents.
 The Zero Draft also fails to clearly address the specific challenges and special circumstances faced by
Middle Income Countries (MICs), for which funding should be made available based on actual needs.
 The Zero Draft does not give sufficient emphasis to the enormous, negative impacts of financial crises
caused by instability in regional and international financial systems on development, equity and human
rights, particularly women’s human rights.
 It wrongly identifies Bretton Woods Institutions as important actors in the response to the financial crises,
without considering their role in precipitating the crises, e.g. through creating obstacles to capital
account management

23. SELECTED RECOMMENDATIONS
 Commitments on achieving women’s rights and gender equality must be matched by
dedicated resources and all countries need to establish robust systems to track
allocations for women’s rights and gender equality through disaggregated data as
well as to take action to reverse and address areas of underfunding in women’s
rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment. The structure and integrity of
the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration should be maintained
 The Zero Draft should maintain the integrity of both the Monterrey and Doha
mandates. Those agreements provided a holistic framework for the consideration of
all different sources of finance, as well as systemic issues that relate to the stability
and governance of the international financial system.
 The global partnership between developed and developing countries should remain
the foundation of FfD. The role of States as the principle duty-bearers of human
rights obligations must not be eroded through the introduction of multi-stakeholder
partnerships that delegate State duties to other actors, including the private sector.
 solutions can be found through strengthening official finance, unlocking the
transformative potential of people and the private sector while ensuring that
investment patterns support sustainable development and the realisation of human
rights and gender equality, and by strengthening national and international policy
environments to support sustainable development objectives.

24.  Zero Draft needs to mention the large financing gaps to promote gender equality and women’s
empowerment to date, and the long-standing commitments to gender and women’s human rights
agreements. Moreover, it needs to contain strong action-oriented measures to guarantee universal social
services, including care services that reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, labor market regulation,
decent work for women, and to eliminate discriminatory gender norms that underpin the vertical and
horizontal gender-based segregation of all work.
 Instead of focusing on the need to increase the tax base through the formalization of the informal sector
(Para 20) in which women are over represented, it is important to promote progressive taxation systems
including profitable economic and industrial sectors which are currently under taxed.
 The role of private business must be tempered by a recognition of the State as the principal provider of
public goods.
 It is important to draw attention to the volatility of development assistance flows as well as the new
attempts to change the definition of ODA with the aim of inflating aid or leveraging the private sector in
mega infrastructure projects (for instance para 58). As well, the increase in ODA should not lead to a
cycle of debt for the recipient country.

25.  A universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral
trading system based on the principle of special and differential treatment
as well as meaningful trade liberalization can serve as an engine of economic
growth and promote sustainable development and be conducive to the
promotion of gender equality and the human rights of women and girls.
 This is a dangerous departure from recognizing the inherent entitlements of
women as full and equal citizens and subjects of human rights. Achieving the
full realization of human rights, including women’s rights, gender equality
and women’s empowerment is central to any sustainable development
agenda. This must be an end in itself.
 The Principle of International Cooperation and Common but Differentiated
Responsibilities is eroded when paragraphs to promote multi-stakeholders
partnerships in specific areas such as health, education and food (Para 69,
70, 71) are included.

26. Recent Documents
 Note by the Secretary-General on “Coherence, coordination and
cooperation in the context of financing for sustainable development and
the post-2015 development agenda” (E/2015/52) – 24 March 2015
 Zero draft of the outcome document of the third International Conference
on Financing for Development – 16 March 2015
 Report of the Secretary-General on “Further strengthening the work of the
Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters”
(E/2015/51) – 11 March 2015

27. Useful Links
Official FFD Website
 http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/index.html
 http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/WWG-on-
FFD_input-to-3rd-round-of-SISs.pdf

28. Reflection
We speak of financing for development, but we have to
clarify what type of development we are talking about.
We have to define it in the Johannesburg Summit
because the development model of the North has often
been the cause of the underdevelopment of the South. It
has been demonstrated, for example, that if everybody
acquired the standard of living of the most developed
countries in the world, we would need ten similar
planets to be able to maintain the people.
Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuala and of the Group of 77 and China

29. Its not just enough to talk of financing for development, To quote Hugo Chavez,”
we have to clarify what type of development we are talking about. We have to
define it in the Johannesburg Summit because the development model of the
North has often been the cause of the underdevelopment of the South. It has
been demonstrated, for example, that if everybody acquired the standard of
living of the most developed countries in the world, we would need ten similar
planets to be able to maintain the people”.
WHY SHOULD WE BE INTEREST?
 We need an ambitious SDGs backed by finances to be able to achieve
actual sustainable Development.
 More financial resources are needed to finance development goals and
strategies globally
 A paradigm shift on how development will be financed is required.

30. THANK YOU