Debate on the future of international development cooperation underway
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Debate on the future of international development cooperation underway
Following the close of the Summit of the Future, a common belief and consistent narrative seem to be taking shape among civil society and other critical actors that has not yet been reflected within the official proceedings. That belief and narrative? That the current international aid architecture is failing and a new and transformative approach to how international development cooperation is governed at the global level is needed. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), taking place in Sevilla (Spain) next year, is a major opportunity to achieve that.
News
Eurodad's International Conference 2025 taking place in January - Registrations open soon
Eurodad’s 2025 Conference will take place in January 2025 and will be co-hosted in Barcelona, Spain, with our Spanish members Debt Observatory in Globalization (ODG), Oxfam Intermon and Alianza-ActionAid Spain. It will provide a unique opportunity to share ideas and strategise ahead of the fourth UN Financing for Development conference in the country that will host the summit.
UN member states fail to deliver international financial architecture reform at the Summit of the Future - FfD4 should be the moment to course correct
The Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism calls on member states to ensure that the failure of the Summit of the Future on international financial architecture reforms is not used as an excuse for retrogression in the Financing for Development Conference negotiations.
Joint letter on CSOs' engagement in IMF policy reviews and consultation
Civil society organisations call on the International Monetary Fund management and Board members for an evaluation of the 2015 guidelines and a Board-mandated framework to establish mandatory rules for CSO engagement at all levels.
The Inter-American Development Bank Investigation Mechanism accepts complaint against Galapagos Debt Swap filed by local communities
The Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) decided to accept the Complaint filed against the Galapagos Life Fund, in response to demands from local communities about the lack of access to information, transparency, and inadequate governance in the management of funds in the debt swap process. This decision represents an important step towards the protection of Ecuador’s sovereign rights and environmental conservation in the Galapagos Islands.
Read the news (English) | Spanish version
Blogs
When tax justice meets climate justice - how a new global tax deal can address the climate crises
by Markus Trilling (Eurodad)
While hundreds of billions of tax revenues are lost every year due to tax dodging, the need for public climate finance becomes ever more urgent. A global tax deal can make polluters pay their fair share of taxes and for compensating the damage they cause.
Reports
Fostering a global public financial ecosystem for development and climate action
by Thomas Marois (McMaster University), Ali Rıza Güngen (McMaster University), Lavinia Steinfort (Transnational Institute) and Maria José Romero (Eurodad)
The Think Tanks (T20), one of the engagement groups of the G20, recently released the policy briefs that it commissioned earlier this year, as part of the Brazilian G20 presidency. Eurodad contributed to one policy brief that advocates for a global ecosystem of public national and multilateral development banks that can serve as a pillar for democratic, accountable, and transparent finance for development and climate action. This ecosystem should be grounded in public-public collaboration, rather than in the risky over reliance on private finance that dominates much of the practices today.
How does external public debt drive the destruction of the Colombian Amazon?
by Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) and Debt for Climate
Austerity was projected to impact 6.7 billion people in 2023 or 85 per cent of humanity and the population most likely to be hit exceptionally hard is East Asia and the Pacific, and South Asia. This briefing discusses austerity’s brief history, expounds on the different policy articulations, and focusses on how austerity sows insecurity by analysing public spending trends.
Read the briefing (English) | Spanish version | Portuguese version
Multilateralism in an era of global oligarchy
by Oxfam International
The main argument of this briefing is that multilateral efforts are failing to adequately respond to critical global challenges, including the climate crisis and persistent poverty and inequality. While some have blamed the deadlock solely on rising geopolitical tensions between powerful countries, such a focus is incomplete. Rather, a key reason for failures of international cooperation is extreme economic inequality.
Useful resources
Global week of action for climate finance and a fossil-free future: webinars and resources
Last week, civil society organisations mobilised online and offline during the Global Week of Action for Climate Finance and a Fossil-Free Future, calling on global north governments to meet their climate finance obligations in full.
The International Monetary Fund must end its destructive surcharges
by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Kevin P. Gallagher, Martín Guzmán and Marilou Uy
The International Monetary Fund’s surcharge policy has led to an unseemly state of affairs: countries in financial distress have become the largest source of net revenue to the Fund in recent years. These surcharges must be eliminated or, at the very least, adjusted to reduce the excessive burden on highly indebted countries.
Events
9 October | Brussels and online | Report launch: Who profits from the Global Gateway? The EU’s new strategy for development cooperation
Launched in 2021 by the European Commission, the Global Gateway has been promoted as the EU’s ‘positive offer’ to countries in the global south. Yet a new report by Counter Balance and Eurodad, and supported by Oxfam, explores many concerning issues with this strategy. It asks the central question: is the Global Gateway prioritising the EU’s foreign policy goals and its own economic interests and companies over positive development outcomes in its partner countries?
The launch event will bring together the authors of the report, decisionmakers from the EU and civil society representatives from the global south and global north to debate the future of international development for the EU.
For more details and to register click here
10 October | Bratislava and online | Ambrela Development Forum 2024 - Building bridges, building solutions
The Slovak Platform for development organisations – Ambrela responds to the current humanitarian challenges in an inter-connected world with a one-day international conference. The event brings together government officials, civil society leaders, international organisations, and private sector representatives to foster collaboration between them in order to build stronger development solutions.
29-30 January 2025 | Barcelona and online | Eurodad's International Conference 2025
Read more in the News section above, and stay tuned - registrations open soon.
Vacancies
Global campaigns and policy coordinator (Europe)
Global Alliance for Tax Justice | Deadline: 4 October
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This newsletter has been produced with co-funding from the European Union, Bread for the World and Norad. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Eurodad and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the funders. |
