Crunch time in Addis

4 reasons the financing for development conference matters

By Mwangi Waituru, VSO & Action 2015 Advisor, Africa

2015 is a pivotal year in the fight to end global poverty. In September, our elected leaders will agree on a new set of goals that will guide the development agenda for the next 15 years. These goals – currently known as the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs are ambitious; aiming to end extreme poverty, achieve universal health coverage, gender equity, and quality education for all by 2030, among other big ideas.

Good intentions alone will not change the world – hard work is required that will need paying for. It won’t come cheaply so before the pomp and ceremony in New York in September, there is a critical meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July: the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD). This is the moment that the funding for the implementation of the global ambitions is to be agreed.

For the four days of the FfD Conference, Finance Ministers and some heads of state from UN member states will take a critical step on the journey to addressing poverty, inequality and climate change.

It is fair to say that this conference matters for millions of people worldwide for good reason:

Reaching an agreement

To implement the SDGs successfully some estimate an extra $1.5 trillion is needed. This is a huge amount of money and so the global community needs to pull together. But money is not the only headache for the UN Member States, structural and systemic shifts are also need in areas of trade, taxation and the global partnership architecture; areas that have been difficult for the UN family to agree on.

Fulfilling commitments

In 1970, ‘rich’ countries committed to spending 0.7% GNI on overseas aid. Yet to date only 6 countries have fulfilled this commitment. Governments need step up and fulfil these obligations towards creating a more equal world.

Spending in the right areas

It is one thing to find the money – quite another to ensure it is spent in the right areas. Despite improvements in recent years, funding for key areas that are crucial to addressing poverty and marginalisation, like gender equality, has been declining rather that increasing. We need to see a better focus, especially on gender equality, in order to make the ambitions of eradicating poverty a reality.

Refocusing on the wider picture

There remain over 1 billion people worldwide living in poverty. Everyday 16,000 children under the age of 5 die due to largely preventable conditions and 58 million primary-age children are out of school. If world leaders are successful in Addis, then we are huge step closer to addressing these issues.

With this much on the line, ordinary people need to be heard loud and clear during next week’s Addis Ababa conference and involved in the ongoing conversations about how to best implement the ambitions of the SDGs. Whether it is volunteers, NGOs, grassroots groups or activists, people’s collective expertise can help make sure that the financing we invest in development reaches the most marginalised people in our societies and is spent where the need is greatest.

Find out how you can be part of this movement and have your voice heard visit www.action2015.org