MANILA, 17 July 2015 – The Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development criticized the agreement from the third United Nations Financing for Development (FFD) summit in Ethiopia, which concluded yesterday.
:The outcome document is riddled with contradictions, reflecting the nature of the FFD process as a contestation between different paradigms and interests. Important passages under the Action Agenda reveal that the interests of big finance capital, private corporations, global elites and rich country governments have triumphed,” said Lidy Nacpil, APMDD coordinator.
:The process has failed to even yield what would have been small but important victories such as the commitments to set up a global intergovernmental tax body, to scale up climate finance, and to study and pursue the issue of illegitimate debt,” she added.
The Asian alliance is signatory to a collective statement by hundreds of civil society groups which detailed these concerns among others, such as the treatment of gender equality as smart economics, rather than as a fundamental human rights issue; the lack of concrete commitments to ensure tax justice and equity; the tendency of traditional donors to elude their responsibilities; the lack of critical assessment of trade regimes; limited progress on technology; the weakening of the UN mandate to address systemic issues; and the lack of transparency and accountability commitments.
The FFD outcome document, formally known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, will impact the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ongoing SDG negotiations will culminate in the next major UN summit, which will be held in New York this September.
The Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (formerly Jubilee South-Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development) is a regional alliance of peoples’ movements and organizations, coalitions, and nongovernmental organizations.