At the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals is an international commitment to Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This responds to the urgent need to address a crucial problem: at least half of the world’s population still lacks access to essential health services, and affordability remains a key reason for that.

The debate about a Green New Deal has recently been reinvigorated in both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, the Green New Deal is part of the priorities of the European Commission’s President-elect Ursula von der Leyen. And at the UN in New York last month, sustainable development was featured in a series of global Summits, including the Climate Action Summit. In response, UNCTAD used the momentum to  launch the 2019 edition of the Trade and Development Report (TDR) which analyses the new deal from a financing perspective, identifies constraints and outlines innovative financing options. 

As the promised leveraging effects of blended finance fail to materialise, the European Union is increasingly focussing on the policy environment in partner countries, based on an assumption that the problem must lie there. 

Over the last few decades, the European financial architecture for development has changed significantly. Development finance is currently a central piece in the EU's development policy toolbox but with scarce resources available, a serious assessment is needed.

As G20 leaders meet this weekend to debate the state of the global financial and economic system, there is no shortage of problems to discuss. 

The selection of David Malpass as the new president of the World Bank is a missed opportunity to put an end to the gentlemen's agreement and strengthen the legitimacy of the World Bank. 

While the IMF cautions against the fiscal risks of public-private partnerships (PPPs), the institution is simultaneously backing them at a country programme level and advocates austerity measures that push governments towards expanding PPPs through constrained budgets.

Las Asociaciones Público-Privadas (APP) vienen siendo activamente impulsadas por los gobiernos donantes y las instituciones financieras internacionales para financiar servicios sociales y proyectos de infraestructura en todo el mundo. Sin embargo, el apoyo a las APP es contrario a los compromisos asumidos por los gobiernos en el marco de la Agenda 2030, y en otras instancias, para promover la igualdad de género y el cumplimiento de los derechos de la mujer.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are being actively promoted by donor governments and international financial institutions to finance social services and infrastructure projects around the world.. PPPs are agreements where private sector companies replace the state as providers of traditional public services and infrastructure, such as health and education, transport, energy, and water and sanitation.

Support for PPPs runs counter to governments’ commitments to promote gender equality and the fulfilment of women’s rights under Agenda 2030 and elsewhere.