Save the Date! Side Events at the 2022 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development
April 21, 2022
Pease join us online at the Side-Events* organized by the
Civil Society FfD Group (including Women's Working Group on FfD)!
(Speakers and co-organizers to be announced shortly, stay tuned here)
Tackling debt amidst multiple crises: challenges and proposals for debt architecture reform.
Date: Monday, 25 April 2022 
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. NY
Registration Link:
As the world, and particularly the global south countries are experiencing a multiplicity of crisis, sovereign debt continues growing and hindering the chances of achieving the SDGs, fighting the climate emergency or even ensuring the most basic social rights. Debt relief initiatives have so far been ineffective at supporting countries to achieve sustainable debt levels, while development aid and climate finance commitments continue to fall short. Additionally, new resources are needed to face the skyrocketing food, energy, and fertilizer costs.
The response to this multidimensional crisis presents significant challenges and the existing debt architecture is not fit for purpose. The session will explore policy options and structural reforms that would help tackling together unsustainable debts and the multiple crises, including climate, food, and energy crises.
The response to this multidimensional crisis presents significant challenges and the existing debt architecture is not fit for purpose. The session will explore policy options and structural reforms that would help tackling together unsustainable debts and the multiple crises, including climate, food, and energy crises.
Filling the Private Finance Regulatory Gap: Moving Beyond the De-risking State
Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2022Time: 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. NYThe global development agenda has become increasingly focused on attracting private investments to fill a so-called financing gap to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of this trend, states are encouraged to “ease the business climate”, remove “regulatory barriers” and de-risk investments to incentivize private actors. This approach, however, undermines the important and potentially transformative regulatory role of the state. This event will draw attention to the public policy options available for states to regulate the financial sector and asset management industry, as well as discuss some of the current pitfalls of a private-first agenda, including failures of voluntary ESG initiatives, greenwashing, SDG-washing, and risks related to public private partnerships (PPPs).
The road towards an intergovernmental UN Tax Body and Convention
Date: Wednesday, 27 April 2022Time: 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. NY
Global decision-making on tax belongs in a forum with universal membership where all countries can participate on an equal footing. But no such forum currently exists. This side-event will look at the need for, and road towards, the establishment of a truly inclusive intergovernmental body on tax under the auspices of the United Nations. Furthermore, the event will include a discussion of a newly developed civil society Proposal for a UN Convention on Tax.
Addressing ODA diversion in times of global health emergencies and of geopolitical crises – a renewed call to go beyond 0.7%
Date: Wednesday, 27 April 2022Time: 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. NYIt is time to assess the impacts of varying and on-going global crises on ODA targets and allocations. This side event discussion will provide a reality check as to whether donors’ responses are coming up short to meet the range of challenges that are affecting millions of people in all parts of the world. In the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic and interconnected crises, most donors reoriented their aid budgets as well as frontloaded commitments to address the most immediate challenges; this also resulted in increased levels of ODA in 2020 record levels. Hand in hand, for 2021 and 2022, there is a high risk of seeing more aid inflation due to the reporting of in-excess C19 vaccine dose donations and of emerging geopolitical crisis calling for more concessional resources. The war in Ukraine and the ensuing fall-out and refugee crisis is certain to have an impact on ODA levels and allocations. Finally, we cannot forget the standing efforts to shift ODA allocations towards private sector through blending.
4th FfD Conference: Towards a new global economic consensus that works for people and planet
Date: Thursday, 28 April 2022Time: 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. NYA new FfD summit has never been more urgent again given the financing needs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and future summits including the UN Social Summit in 2025 that will only succeed if urgent reforms of the global financial system are advanced. It is time for UN member states to convene the 4th FfD conference/Monterrey + 20 to agree a new global consensus on an economic system that works for people and the planet.
*All Side-Events will be held under Chatham House Rule
