GFDD and FUNGLODE Deliver Intervention during Fifth High-Level Meeting on Financing for Development

On December 8, 2011, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) were amongst five civil society organizations invited by the NGO Committee on Financing for Development to participate in the informal dialogue, “The Link between Financing for Development and Achieving the Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,” which took place
within the framework of the Fifth High-Level Meeting on Financing for Development. 

GFDD and FUNGLODE underscored the negative impacts of financial speculation of commodity prices on economic stability, global development and  the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and presented recommendations for
the attainment of global commodity price stability. GFDD and FUNGLODE urged for the implementation of four important measures: 1) limits on transactions of investors; 2) the establishment of margins higher than the premiums required for underwriting commodity futures contracts; 3) limits to the volume of transactions of institutional investors; and 4) banning financial speculation of food in futures markets.

During the intergovernmental dialogues, wide scale support was
voiced for the following:

• Endorsement of the outcomes of the 2002 Monterrey Consensus and the 2008 Doha Roundtables
• Disappointment with lack of focus on the Doha Rounds
• Official Development Assistance (ODA) can serve as an important catalyst for development, but must be one of many development mechanisms
• Need for mobilization of new resources and more effective use of existing ones
• Urgency of sustained ODA; 0.23 % in ODA is deeply below the agreed upon 0.7%; last year only 129 million in international assistance was received
• ODA only accounts for 13% of capital flows to developing countries; 30% is in the form of direct financial assistance
• Acknowledgement that many MDGs will remain unmet
• Strong revival of private capital flows to developing nations is promising
• Diversification of foreign direct investment to developing countries is a promising sign
• National ownership, accountability and alignment need to be the ABC’s of aid investment
• Achievement of MDGs has been put at risk as a result of the global financial and economic crisis and the rise of commodity prices
• Positive feedback regarding Busan Meeting (160 country delegations in attendance, in addition to civil
  society organizations and private sector institutions)
• South-South cooperation must be viewed as a critical element of development, but it must not be viewed as a replacement for North-South aid
• Illicit financial flows pose a significant challenge to development
• Call for greater transparency and involvement of developing countries in the reform process
• Importance of improving tax regimes in developing
  countries; need to work towards national and international tax systems and cooperation
• Some Least Developed Countries accumulate more money every year in their central bank reserves than what they receive in ODA, resulting in the poorest countries providing soft loans to the new High Income Countries
• Close attention must be paid to youth employment
• Developing countries for the relief and reduction of foreign debt

In line with the intervention made by GFDD and FUNGLODE, Roberto Bissio of Social Watch spoke fervently of the negative impacts of financial speculation on global development. He argued in favor of: curbing financial speculation through making financial derivatives transparent; establishing circuit-breakers, compulsory
delivery or banning of certain types of trading; separating trading banks from commercial banks; and imposing a tax on Wall Street.

GFDD and FUNGLODE actively support the work of the United Nations System. In 2004, GFDD and FUNGLODE were admitted to the United Nations System as institutions with consultative status, joining the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Department of Public Information (DPI),
the Global Compact Office (UNGC), the Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

Click here to view the Official Statement delivered by GFDD and FUNGLODE during the Fifth High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development.