EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, will this week attend the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference is expected to result in an agreement on the financial and non-financial means of implementation (i.e. aid, investments, policies and more) that will support the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This agreement will pave the way for two other milestones this year: the UN General Assembly in New York in September, which will decide on the list of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP) in Paris in December.
Ahead of the conference, High Representative/Vice-President Mogherini commented: “2015 is a crucial year in our fight against poverty and for sustainable development. Ambition is needed if we are to fulfil the relevant objectives we have set ourselves: ending extreme poverty and ensuring a sustainable future for all. We need to empower people, starting from women and girls, fight inequality, promote peaceful societies and create shared prosperity through inclusive and sustainable growth. Addressing all this is a challenging task, and will only be achieved if we all take responsibilities that are coherent with our own targets, and join forces in a strong global partnership.”
Commissioner Mimica added: “Collectively, the EU is already the largest donor of official development assistance and a pioneer in the design and use of innovative financing mechanisms, expecting to mobilise €100 billion through blending by 2020. In addition we are the most open market for developing countries. We will continue to play our part and even step up our contributions, promoting sustainable development worldwide, with a particular focus on countries most in need.”
The EU wants an agreement in Addis based on a new global partnership that involves all countries around the world and can mobilise all possible means to finance the post-2015 Development Agenda (referred to as “Means of Implementation”), around three key topics:
Integration – The new global partnership should serve the full post-2015 agenda and address all three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) in an integrated fashion.
Comprehensiveness – The new global partnership should rely on the mobilisation and effective use of all relevant “means of implementation” – be they financial or otherwise, including having sound policies and an enabling environment for economies to thrive, in all countries.
Universality – The new global partnership will be based on all contributing their fair share. All countries will have to take the necessary steps in terms of policy action and resource mobilisation.
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