NEW YORK, MARCH 21 – Negotiations ahead of next April ECOSOC’s forum on Financing for Development are underway and the Italian Mission is playing a central role. Last November, in a letter to the UN’s Secretary-General, the President of ECOSOC Rhonda King appointed Italy’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mariangela Zappia as one of the two co-facilitators of the process. King’s announcement made Italy an important agent in identifying the measures the global community should adopt to meet the financial resources necessary to support countries efforts in implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda.
As co-facilitator, Italy’s Ambassador is committing to shepherding negotiations between state representatives, civil society, private enterprise, and academics in a way that is inclusive. Additionally, Italy pledged to finance the participation of civil society representatives attending the Forum in April.
The Forum will be set at the UN’s Secretariat Building in New York from 15 to 18 April. The conference will terminate following the adoption of a Final Document that will include the outcome of the co-facilitators careful negotiations. Alongside Mariangela Zappia, Rhonda King nominated Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Lazarous Kapambwe as the other co-facilitator. Preparations for the Forum have been underway since January with high-level meetings at World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, as well as in Mexico City with academics and civil society.
ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up (FfD Forum) is an intergovernmental process with universal participation mandated to review the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (Addis Agenda). The objective of the Forum is to facilitate the efficiency and effectiveness of financial resources intended for the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The substantive input to the FfD Forum is prepared by the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) on Financing for Development, who formulates a series of recommendations in a report.
IAFT’s 2019 report emphasized that although progress has been made, the mobilization of financial resources needed to meet the 2030 Agenda remains a challenge. Even if there is a greater level of investment, particularly from the private sector, the transition towards more sustainable models of development is not occurring fast enough. The report addresses this problem by highlighting the need for collective action to meet particular goals especially as they relate to fighting climate change.
The IAFT’s report also produced recommendations focused on the development of technologies and innovative financial instruments, reinforcing partnerships between the public and private, and favoring market access to female small business owners. (@OnuItalia)
