INGO’s respond to Baroness Chapman’s ministerial statement at FfD4

Seville

Responding to Baroness Chapman’s ministerial statement at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD), Alex Farley, Policy and Advocacy Manager for Development Finance at Bond, the UK network for INGOs, said: 

“We very much agree with the Minister that Seville needs to mark a new chapter in financing for development. However, the agenda the minister has outlined today falls significantly short of the ambitious solutions countries from the Majority World and civil society are calling for.

“The UK seems to be preoccupied with private sector-oriented solutions, which is at odds with wider conversations being had around democratising and reforming the global economic system. While private finance has a role to play, given its limited demonstrable development impact, the UK’s intent focus on using its reduced ODA budget on this offering at FfD4 seems all the more out of step. While lower-income countries present are talking about the need for development and climate finance, they have been very clear that private finance investments need to be additional to and not a replacement for ODA.”

Sophie Powell, Chief of UK Advocacy & Policy at Christian Aid, said:

“The UK could have got behind proposals in the negotiations consistently called for by Global South governments to create new, democratic UN processes to deal with tax dodging and debt crises where all countries have a seat at the table, which would not even cost a penny to the UK taxpayer. Instead, it resisted these calls and offered support to a meagre plate of minor initiatives that will do little to unlock finance at scale or to address the root causes of poverty. 

“This government needs to do some soul searching about how it will really make a contribution to global development and climate action during the rest of its term. As the world now turns to implementation to make the Compromiso de Sevilla meaningful, the UK has a real opportunity to get behind the Sevilla agreements to make international decision-making fair and hand more power to the Global South. It could also show leadership by using its outsized power as the jurisdiction where private debts are governed, to unlock meaningful debt relief for the world’s poorest countries.” 

Pablo Soriano Mena, Public Policy Manager, CAFOD, said:

“The UK’s main statement at the Plenary session in Seville did not match the scale of ambition, which this conference needs.

Following significant cuts to the UK’s aid budget, this was a crucial opportunity for the government to outline ambition and demonstrate leadership in reforming the international financial architecture, particularly on debt. Recent reports, such as the Vatican Commission report chaired by Prof Stiglitz, have shown a clear way forward, but the UK seems to be deaf to these urgent calls in this Jubilee year.

 Rather than reinforcing the status quo, the UK should be championing meaningful reform and amplifying the voices of those most affected by the current system.”

ENDS.

Notes for editors

1. For interviews at the Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Seville, contact Bond’s Head of Media and Communications, Maryam Mohsin, on +447816191596 or [email protected]  
2. Heading into the FfD4, UK INGOs called out the UK government and rich countries for blocking progress on debt reform ahead of FfD4. Read the press release.
3. Earlier today at the Financing for Development Conference in Sevilla, Minister Chapman launched a global initiative to increase pre-arranged finance for disasters, with a focus on insurance, as part of an initiative seeking to increase global pre-arranged finance from 2% to 20% by 2035. Read CAN-UK’s press release here. 
4. Read the letter signed by 80 charity leaders, parliamentarians, economists, academics and campaigners calling for the Prime Minister to back plans to tackle the debt crisis in lower-income countries and attend FfD4. The letter was coordinated by Bond and was sent to the Prime Minister on Monday, 9 June.
5. According to the UN Development Program, 54 countries are in a debt crisis, 32 African countries spend more on debt payments than on healthcare, and 25 African countries spend more on debt payments than on education.
6. Read Bond’s blog on what the UK needs to do at FfD4.
7. Read a blog from Save the Children on the action the UK government can take on debt.
8. Bond is the UK network for organisations working in international development. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 350 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.