Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Goals
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Women's Major Group Contribution for the Sixth Session of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals
(December 2013, United Nations, New York) by Bhumika Muchhala, Third World Network (TWN) GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (1) A global partnership in the SDGs needs to encompass meaningful analyses and reforms of global systemic issues in trade, finance, macroeconomic, industrial and financial policies, as well as social policies concerning women and the care economy, senior citizens, the disabled, and all those who are consistently marginalized or discriminated. (2) The objective of global systemic reforms is to remove the main impediments to development and secure an accommodating international environment for sustainable development. These systemic reforms should also integrate fundamental dimensions of gender inequality, such as the feminization of poverty, the increasing precarity of women and girl’s labour in export-oriented development strategies, and the disproportionate burden on women and girls of financial and economic crisis and resulting austerity policies and sovereign indebtedness, as well as the climate and food crisis – just to name a few examples. (3) Developing countries today still need adequate degrees of policy space. However, the policy space afforded to them by international rules and agreements are considerably narrower than that enjoyed by today’s advanced economies when they were developing. It is necessary to reform both multilateral and bilateral arrangements to allow developing countries to make use of policy tools and measures.
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(4) A global partnership for sustainable development must be a chapeter in itself, as well as a cross-cutting issue, for example in the way that food and agriculture inersect with trade rules. A genuine global partnership should also require that developed countries’ domestic policies do not have negative spillovers on developing countries. (5) All three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental policies and issues) must be addressed in equal measure and weight, with both domestic and international commitments, as well as actions and means of implementation that take into account asymmetric levels of development and resources between developed and developing countries. The following are some key areas for global systemic reforms that need to be included in a transformative and effective global partnership: 1. Review multilateral rules and agreements with a view to improving the policy space in DCs in pursuit of economic growth and social development. For example, reforming agricultural trade rules so that developed country farm subsidies do not harm the food and production security, as well as livelihoods and incomes of small farmers, in developing countries. * The recent struggle of developing countries in the WTO to carry out national food security programmes, such as food stockholding, is of serious concern. Developed countries’ backlash against India's food security proposal in the G33 (the group of developing countries in the WTO) clearly demonstrates that the right to food in the South cannot be achieved without cooperation from developed partners; 2. Financial regulation and food price speculation must be addressed for the basic stability and functioning of the global economy and financial systems. Furthermore, recurrent financial crisis, the financialization of the global economy and unaffordable basic foodstuffs affects women in highly disproportionate manners; 3. Re-orient the international Intellectual Property regime with a view to facilitating technological catch-up and improving health and education standards and food security in developing countries; 4. Ensure that bilateral FTAs, trade and investment agreements, and BITs are oriented to the economic and social development needs of developing countries rather than excessively encroaching on the policy space of the developing countries;
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5. Establish binding mechanisms, such as a legally enforceable multilateral code of conduct for TNCs to secure social responsibility and accountability and prevent restrictive business practices; 6. Multilateral mechanisms to bring oversight to developed country policies that have adverse consequences and spill-overs to developing countries; 7. Establish impartial and orderly sovereign debt workout mechanisms to prevent meltdown in developing countries facing balance of payments and debt crises; 8. Address tax evasion, tax havens, and transfer mispricing by MNCs, particularly in extractive sectors, and through subsidiaries; 9. Support domestic resource mobilization by reversing regressive and inequality-perpetuating value-added taxation measures, and instead prioritizing progressive and enforceable income- and asset-based taxation, including addressing corporate and investor tax evasion, tax havens, and regulatory loopholes; 10. Reform international economic and financial governance toward increased participation and role of developing countries in the IMF, World Bank and WTO, including FSB and BIS.
FINANCE AND THE MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Finance, both in the sense of resources and the international financial system, are at the heart of sustainable development financing. The Monterrey and Doha conferences on financing for development are strong and legitimate foundations to draw from.
Financing needs in developing countries are in the order of trillions of dollars per year. At the same time, there are a lot of global savings, especially in foreign reserves. This points to the urgent need for financial system reform in order to re-allocate savings to development needs.
Sources of financing are public, private, domestic and international, and each has its own role and objective. They should complement but not substitute each other. Private sector financing is usually profit-oriented and not required to invest in social needs and global public goods. The public sector—whose crucial roles are to finance social needs towards poverty eradication and finance global public goods—thus remains the lynchpin of a
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sustainable development financing strategy.
Technology and access to technology will determine whether or not developing countries can play their part in climate change mitigation and adaptation. (The section on technology transfer in Agenda 21 is particularly useful to revisit).
ODA AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
ODA remains critical, especially for low income countries. In 2012 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported that aggregate ODA flows from donor countries have decreased by 12.8% in real terms, the largest decline in ODA since 1997.
o A sustainable development financing strategy must reaffirm commitment to the 0.7% ODA target and call for a turnaround from its recent decline.
While the UN has recognized the increasing role that South-South cooperation can play, this should not be seen as a substitute for North-South cooperation. These two types of cooperation are based on different premises. The main channel by which means of implementation and global partnership has thus far been carried out, and should continue to be, is based on North-South relations and cooperation. The challenge will be to ensure that the commitment of Financing for Development is not transferred to South-South cooperation.
New and innovative sources of financing can be important, but they are additional to ODA and other public development financing, and are not an excuse or method to reduce traditional development finance. At the same time, innovative financing has meaningful scope, and potential sources that do not rely on public budgets include, for example, financial transaction taxes and the issuing of SDRs for sustainable development needs and through need-based, rather than IMF quota-based, allocation methods.
Women's Major Group Contribution for the Sixth Session of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals
(December 2013, United Nations, New York) by Bhumika Muchhala, Third World Network (TWN) GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (1) A global partnership in the SDGs needs to encompass meaningful analyses and reforms of global systemic issues in trade, finance, macroeconomic, industrial and financial policies, as well as social policies concerning women and the care economy, senior citizens, the disabled, and all those who are consistently marginalized or discriminated. (2) The objective of global systemic reforms is to remove the main impediments to development and secure an accommodating international environment for sustainable development. These systemic reforms should also integrate fundamental dimensions of gender inequality, such as the feminization of poverty, the increasing precarity of women and girl’s labour in export-oriented development strategies, and the disproportionate burden on women and girls of financial and economic crisis and resulting austerity policies and sovereign indebtedness, as well as the climate and food crisis – just to name a few examples. (3) Developing countries today still need adequate degrees of policy space. However, the policy space afforded to them by international rules and agreements are considerably narrower than that enjoyed by today’s advanced economies when they were developing. It is necessary to reform both multilateral and bilateral arrangements to allow developing countries to make use of policy tools and measures.
2
(4) A global partnership for sustainable development must be a chapeter in itself, as well as a cross-cutting issue, for example in the way that food and agriculture inersect with trade rules. A genuine global partnership should also require that developed countries’ domestic policies do not have negative spillovers on developing countries. (5) All three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental policies and issues) must be addressed in equal measure and weight, with both domestic and international commitments, as well as actions and means of implementation that take into account asymmetric levels of development and resources between developed and developing countries. The following are some key areas for global systemic reforms that need to be included in a transformative and effective global partnership: 1. Review multilateral rules and agreements with a view to improving the policy space in DCs in pursuit of economic growth and social development. For example, reforming agricultural trade rules so that developed country farm subsidies do not harm the food and production security, as well as livelihoods and incomes of small farmers, in developing countries. * The recent struggle of developing countries in the WTO to carry out national food security programmes, such as food stockholding, is of serious concern. Developed countries’ backlash against India's food security proposal in the G33 (the group of developing countries in the WTO) clearly demonstrates that the right to food in the South cannot be achieved without cooperation from developed partners; 2. Financial regulation and food price speculation must be addressed for the basic stability and functioning of the global economy and financial systems. Furthermore, recurrent financial crisis, the financialization of the global economy and unaffordable basic foodstuffs affects women in highly disproportionate manners; 3. Re-orient the international Intellectual Property regime with a view to facilitating technological catch-up and improving health and education standards and food security in developing countries; 4. Ensure that bilateral FTAs, trade and investment agreements, and BITs are oriented to the economic and social development needs of developing countries rather than excessively encroaching on the policy space of the developing countries;
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5. Establish binding mechanisms, such as a legally enforceable multilateral code of conduct for TNCs to secure social responsibility and accountability and prevent restrictive business practices; 6. Multilateral mechanisms to bring oversight to developed country policies that have adverse consequences and spill-overs to developing countries; 7. Establish impartial and orderly sovereign debt workout mechanisms to prevent meltdown in developing countries facing balance of payments and debt crises; 8. Address tax evasion, tax havens, and transfer mispricing by MNCs, particularly in extractive sectors, and through subsidiaries; 9. Support domestic resource mobilization by reversing regressive and inequality-perpetuating value-added taxation measures, and instead prioritizing progressive and enforceable income- and asset-based taxation, including addressing corporate and investor tax evasion, tax havens, and regulatory loopholes; 10. Reform international economic and financial governance toward increased participation and role of developing countries in the IMF, World Bank and WTO, including FSB and BIS.
FINANCE AND THE MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Finance, both in the sense of resources and the international financial system, are at the heart of sustainable development financing. The Monterrey and Doha conferences on financing for development are strong and legitimate foundations to draw from.
Financing needs in developing countries are in the order of trillions of dollars per year. At the same time, there are a lot of global savings, especially in foreign reserves. This points to the urgent need for financial system reform in order to re-allocate savings to development needs.
Sources of financing are public, private, domestic and international, and each has its own role and objective. They should complement but not substitute each other. Private sector financing is usually profit-oriented and not required to invest in social needs and global public goods. The public sector—whose crucial roles are to finance social needs towards poverty eradication and finance global public goods—thus remains the lynchpin of a
4
sustainable development financing strategy.
Technology and access to technology will determine whether or not developing countries can play their part in climate change mitigation and adaptation. (The section on technology transfer in Agenda 21 is particularly useful to revisit).
ODA AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
ODA remains critical, especially for low income countries. In 2012 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported that aggregate ODA flows from donor countries have decreased by 12.8% in real terms, the largest decline in ODA since 1997.
o A sustainable development financing strategy must reaffirm commitment to the 0.7% ODA target and call for a turnaround from its recent decline.
While the UN has recognized the increasing role that South-South cooperation can play, this should not be seen as a substitute for North-South cooperation. These two types of cooperation are based on different premises. The main channel by which means of implementation and global partnership has thus far been carried out, and should continue to be, is based on North-South relations and cooperation. The challenge will be to ensure that the commitment of Financing for Development is not transferred to South-South cooperation.
New and innovative sources of financing can be important, but they are additional to ODA and other public development financing, and are not an excuse or method to reduce traditional development finance. At the same time, innovative financing has meaningful scope, and potential sources that do not rely on public budgets include, for example, financial transaction taxes and the issuing of SDRs for sustainable development needs and through need-based, rather than IMF quota-based, allocation methods.
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