Group urges ‘change of mindset’ to make future outcomes more substantive

Affirming its strong commitment to the full and timely implementation of the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development, the Economic and Social Council’s financing for development follow-up forum closed its inaugural session on 20 April 2016 with the consensus adoption of a brief set of intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations.

By that text, the forum recognized that the Addis Agenda provided a global framework for financing sustainable development and was an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and that it helped to contextualize the 2030 Agenda’s means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions.

Further by the text, the forum welcomed the proposed three-pronged approach of the 2016 Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development report, and looked forward to future reports which contained a discussion of the global context and its implications for the follow-up process, as well as an overview of each chapter of the Addis Agenda.

Speaking after the document’s adoption, the representative of Thailand, on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, expressed disappointment that the important mandates of assessing progress, identifying obstacles, addressing new and emerging topics and providing policy recommendations were not reflected in the outcome document.

He said that the Group had hoped for a substantive outcome that reflected elements from all action areas of the Addis Agenda in a balanced manner.  The document adopted, however, failed to deliver on such an aspiration. Calling for a “change of mindset”, he stressed that the document adopted this year must not set a precedent for future sessions of the forum.

The representative of the European Union noted that the agreed conclusions were much less ambitious than his delegation would have liked. However, he welcomed the report of the Inter-agency Task Force, which, despite its brevity, was a testimony to what had been agreed in Addis Ababa.

“What is most important in financing for development is our shared commitment to working together,” said Oh Joon (Republic of Korea), President of the Economic and Social Council, in closing remarks. Indeed, that spirit of collaboration and the willingness of States to seek “win-win solutions” were more important than putting words into an outcome document. Without genuine collaboration, neither developed nor developing countries would be able to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

Delegations, civil society and business sector representatives had demonstrated their commitment to the timely and effective implementation of the Addis Agenda, he said, adding that the forum had been the first time the financing for development community had met following the major summits held in 2015. Many constructive ideas had been put forward, including the need to promote policy coherence for sustainable development and concrete and specific measures to further the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The forum held three round tables on the following themes: debt and systemic issues; trade, science, technology, innovation and capacity-building; and data, monitoring and follow-up.

In other business, the forum approved a draft procedural report on its first session.

Participating in the general debate were the representatives of Montenegro, Nicaragua, South Africa, Portugal, Spain, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (on behalf of the Caribbean Community), Sudan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Jamaica, Canada, Switzerland, Guyana, Myanmar, United States, El Salvador, Australia (also on behalf of Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea and Turkey), Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Dominican Republic (on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), China and Cuba.

Also speaking were representatives of the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), civil society and the business sector.

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Closing remarks by H.E. Ambassador Oh Joon, President of ECOSOC

Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up: New York, 20 April 2016

We have now come to the end of the inaugural ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up.

First of all, let me express my appreciation to all of you for your active participation in the Forum.

All delegations have demonstrated their commitment to the full and timely implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The representatives of major institutional stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to continuing their collaboration that we have seen in recent years. Non-governmental organizations and the business sector also reminded us of the importance of multistakeholder partnerships.

I also wish to extend my special thanks to all the panelists and moderators who came from all over the world to make their contributions.

And once again, I thank the co-facilitators, the Ambassadors of Benin and Croatia, for their efforts in working out the intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations.

This inaugural Forum was special in many ways. It was the first time that the FfD community from all sectors met together again after Addis Ababa. It was the first major follow-up event to the three historic global-level agreements we made last year.

Many constructive ideas were put forward over the last three days that can help us realize the ambitious commitments made in Addis. On Monday, we highlighted the need to promote policy coherence for sustainable development and also discussed how to address the humanitarian and development nexus through the interactive dialogue with major institutional stakeholders.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we discussed concrete and specific measures to address the Addis Agenda and the Means of Implementation of the 2030 Agenda in six thematic round tables, which covered all action areas of the Addis Agenda. We also had an opportunity to take stock of commitments and actions to finance sustainable development. We reviewed initial steps taken by Member States and relevant actors toward the implementation of the Addis Agenda. We discussed future monitoring and followup framework on financing for development.

This is only a snapshot of the rich discussions we had over the last three days. Many more points were made and concrete recommendations were put forward that will help us. We look forward to a more detailed summary of the Forum by the Secretariat, which will be issued in due course.

On a final note, one important lesson I learned while preparing for and conducting the Forum, which I hope other participants share, is that what is most important in financing for development is our shared commitment to working together. Sharing the sense of ownership, the spirit of cooperation, and the willingness to seek win-win solutions are much more important than making the Forum long or short, or putting in or taking out some wordings in the document. It is simple truth but we seem to forget sometimes that without each other’s genuine cooperation, neither developed nor developing countries would be able to achieve effective development cooperation.

Together we can make an important step to build on last year’s global actions and usher in a new era for sustainable development. For this, we must keep our spirit of collaboration alive at all levels.

Thank you.