Trade unions at the third ECOSOC follow-up forum on Financing for Development 2018

The ITUC was at the UN Headquarters for the third ECOSOC follow-up forum on Financing for Development (FfD follow-up forum), which took place on 23-26 April 2018.

The Financing for Development work, within the United Nations, aims to establish how development efforts and commitments will be funded. The annual FfD follow-up forum was set up by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, signed in 2015 at the third Conference on Financing for Development. The follow-up process was designed as a space for Members States to jointly update and coordinate efforts to secure adequate budgetary allocations for the achievement of global development commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals. To do so, it produces an outcome document which contains conclusions and recommendations which are negotiated by UN Members States.

The Financing for Development work has a broad focus. It can be broken down into three broad and inter-linked categories:

  • Public finance
    This category includes the efforts of countries to mobilise resources domestically, notably through taxation. It also includes the discussions on Official Development Assistance (ODA), the budgetary allocations that advanced economies dedicate to global development efforts. Finally, in their efforts to fund their domestic development, this category also encompasses borrowing practices of governments, which touches on discussions on debt.
  • Private finance
    This category looks at the role of different forms of private investment as well as at the role of the private sector in development. Central to this is the role of regulation in ensuring that profit-driven investments are in line with labour and social standards. It notably distinguishes domestic private finance from international private capital flows (commonly measured in terms of Foreign Direct Investment). At the intersection of public and private financing are debates on blended finance and PPPs.
  • Systemic issues
    This category includes issues that impact macroeconomic stability, notably including governance of the global trade, monetary and financial systems.
    The Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development (IATF) brings together over 60 agencies whose work impacts these FfD issues. It puts together an annual Progress and Prospects report which informs the discussions at the FfD Forums. The 2018 edition of the report is available here.

As such, the FfD Forum brings together a number of the areas of work of the ITUC. The Trade Union Development Cooperation Network has coordinated the work of trade unions within the FfD Forums. For the 2018 editions, daily updates are provided below.

Input:

Trade unions are part of the broad coalition of civil societies that participate in the FfD Forum, known as the Civil Society FfD Group. They contributed to the Civil Society FfD Group’s Statement to the 2018 ECOSOC FfD Follow-up Forum, which covers the broad agenda of the FfD Forum. On development cooperation specifically, the TUDCN also contributed to the Statement by the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness, a global network of civil society organisations working more specifically on the development effectiveness agenda.

Daily updates:

Further analysis:

Further information: