What would an IDC Convention cover? Why do we need an IDC Convention if we already have commitments on aid quantity and quality? Don’t we have too many Conventions already? Isn’t an IDC Convention too ambitious? If we have an IDC Convention at the UN what happens to the existing institutions like… Will a new IDC Convention abandon or weaken the existing commitments? What could an IDC Convention bring to the table that the OECD-DAC doesn’t have? Who is pushing for an IDC Convention? How do I get involved?

Don’t we have too many Conventions already?

There is no hard limit to the number of conventions that governments can take on. The only limitation is political will on the part of governments/United Nations member states. There is no limit either on the number of conventions that governments can agree on at a UN Conference. For example, the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the ‘Earth Summit’, delivered three conventions at one time, known as the Rio Conventions: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and a Convention to Combat Desertification. These conventions guide the UN’s work on climate and environment to this day. This and other recent calls for Conventions are a reflection of the urgent need for better representation of countries from the global south within the global financial architecture.