GFAN Action Alert: Engaging in the Financing for Development Discussions
The Global Fund as a financing mechanism is considered to be one of the great success stories of progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals. If we are to find sustainable ways to finance the post-2015 framework, countries should be looking to re-commit to and scale-up the Global Fund to achieve the end of the pandemics and to ensure that the global framework for financing the Sustainable Development Goals reflects that.
This note offers key messages you can promote with key decision-makers in your government, civil society networks and the public around the Global Fund or integrate into your existing Financing for Development (FfD) advocacy and an outline of advocacy opportunities for GFAN members in the development of the framework.
Background
The Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) will take place in Addis Ababa in July 2015 and is a complementary process to the one that is developing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be announced in New York in September. The Addis conference’s outcome document will be key in the broader agenda of implementing the SDGs.
The Addis conference is not expected to deliver promises about specific allocations related to the SDGs: it will however deliver the framework that will, in theory, fund the SDGs. Therefore, a number of broader international development, international financing and poverty alleviation mechanisms are needed in the agreement.
Much of what is being discussed under the FfD umbrella is technical: how tax regulations and international agreements on lending and borrowing impact the ability to finance investments in areas such as health, education, agriculture and climate change in developing countries. This means there are few opportunities for GFAN members to advocate clearly on what we want to see financed.
However, the intersection between what we work on and the technical side is clear: without an ambitious framework that supports increased revenues – be they raised by governments domestically or internationally or by the private sector – there will not be sufficient resources to meet the targets of the SDGs.
The Zero Draft – Advocating for the Global Fund in the Sustainable Development Agenda
In mid-March, the so-called “Zero Draft” (revised May 6) – an initial draft of the final statement to be made in Addis – was released. The main tool for affecting the outcomes of the FfD conference is the Zero Draft statement and its subsequent drafts.
The Zero Draft does not contain significant or strong language about the Global Fund or the EU Financial Transaction Tax and it is difficult to see many areas where this could be changed. The Zero Draft does include some support for the idea of global funds and does note the Global Fund and innovative financing mechanisms like financial transaction taxes. As Global Fund advocates, we must ensure that this language remains and is strengthened during negotiations and GFAN has some possible suggestions on how to do this.
Key Messages for supporting the existing good language and suggestions for new language to strengthen the case of the Global Fund
- If global leaders are serious about sustainable development then, just like previous conferences on financing development in Doha (2008) and Monterrey (2002), the upcoming conference in Addis must conclude with ambitious, innovative ideas included in comprehensive agreements and a roadmap on how to sustainably finance international development.
- The changes that civil society engaged in fighting the world’s deadliest infectious diseases are suggesting in this response to the Zero Draft aims to ensure that governments commit to financing through 2030 and encourages scale-up and allows us to get closer to the end of the 3 diseases.
- The Global Fund as a financing mechanism is widely considered, alongside Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to be among the great success stories of progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals – if we are to find sustainable ways to finance the SDGs, countries should be looking to re-commit and scale-up the Global Fund to achieve the end of the pandemics and ensure that the global framework for financing the SDGs reflects that.
- The advances made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are widely considered to be one of the few successes of the MDGs – but there is still so much to do. Significant increased financing is needed to maintain current treatment regimens, to find new ways to address the changing nature of the diseases including drug-resistance, to develop vaccines to prevent future infections and to scale-up to reach those still without access to community and health systems.
Advocacy opportunities
As civil society, we have several avenues to push better, stronger messaging to ensure that the scope of the fight against the 3 diseases is recognized: it’s important to acknowledge the success in the past 15 years under the MDGs, but we cannot allow this to generate a sense of laissez-faire under the SDGs, as if by existing as an excellent mechanism is enough to allow the Global Fund to continue its work.
Read some initial thoughts by GFAN on draft language changes to the Zero Draft.
What can you do:
- With your government:
- Tell your government to advocate for and support changes in the Zero Draft similar to what is suggested in the GFAN document.
- With other civil society active on climate change issues or other global health issues and FfD:
- Share and push for this language in whatever statements or other interactions you have with other civil society partners (networks, coalitions, etceteras).
- With the public:
- Issue a statement and encourage grassroots action on the Zero Draft language with your government.
Key moments in the lead up to the conference
- Consultations
- March 23/24, Europe
- end of March, Africa
- April, Asia-Pacific
- Prep Conference, 8-9 April
- Zero Draft drafting session, 17-18 April
- Intersessional Consultations on the Outcome Document June 1-5th (UN HQ, NYC)
- Final Drafting Session on the Outcome Document of 3rd Conference on FfD June 15-19 (UN HQ, NYC)
- Conference, 13-16 July
References
- Key Elements Paper
- Civil Society Response to Key Elements Paper
- Sachs/Schmidt paper (April 8th Working Draft)
- Zero Draft (updated May 6th)
- Civil society
A number of other interesting reports can be found on the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s website