Delivered by April Porteria, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)

 

Thank you, Chair. We are delivering this response on behalf of the CSO FfD Mechanism. 

We believe FfD4 offers a critical opportunity to reach a political agreement on a renewed approach to the role of private finance in development. Ten years after Addis, there is ample evidence that the billions to trillions approach to development has not delivered on its promises, both in quantity and quality.  This agenda has posed significant risks to gender equality, women’s human rights, the reduction of economic and social disparities, and to ecological integrity and climate action.

We demand, FfD4 must not continue with this failed approach. Private finance can play a role in supporting countries to advance the 2030 Agenda, but there is a need to reaffirm the role of evidence-based approaches and uphold the regulatory role of States, ensuring alignment of private business and finance with democratically determined national development strategies and priorities.

An overreliance on de-risking strategies overlooks the diversity of private sector actors, how they should be supported, if so, and their linkages to the much-needed structural transformation in the Global South. And we reiterate, the latter is the only way of moving away from commodity, aid and debt dependencies.

We call for a UN intergovernmental process to review the sustainable development outcomes, like the environmental, fiscal, labor and human rights, including women’s rights, impact of financing instruments established to leverage private finance. This process should determine the most appropriate toolkit of policy measures to regulate private investments in the public interest. 

[Globally agreed standards and guidelines are needed. This cannot be left to the ability of individual countries to regulate in a context of highly unequal power distribution, including between Global South countries and transnational corporations.]

And lastly, we call for ringfencing social services, like healthcare and education, from market forces to ensure universal access and above all, the fulfillment of human rights. 

Thank you, and hope these critical points are considered.