Global partners to meet July in Addis

Finance ministers and senior representatives from developing countries are slated to meet in Addis Ababa in July this year for a conference on priorities and perspectives for financing for development.

Malawi’s Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe currently co-chairs the Global Partnership for Effective Corporation alongside Mexico’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Jose Kuribreana and Netherland’s Minister of Foreign Trade, Lilliane Ploumen.

During the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Springs Meetings in Washington DC in April this year, Gondwe convened and chaired a side event for a roundtable dialogue on the conference in Addis Ababa.

Discussions focused on how the principles of effective development co-operation can help make better use of existing resources for development, as well as leveraging more quality public and private finance for achieving sustainable development for all.

Participants at the roundtable reaffirmed the need for country ownership to be at the center of development cooperation in support of the post- 2015 development agenda, and for quality of finance and partnerships to be mainstreamed in post-2015 discussions as a critical element for delivering on the sustainable development goals.

The participants also recognised the importance of domestic resource mobilisation as the most sustainable source of finance for developing countries and highlighted the importance for more development cooperation support to improve tax and revenue collection systems and capacity.

They also emphasised the need for increasing international efforts to tackle tax evasion and avoidance.

At the end of the meeting, delegates reaffirming the need for better and smarter quality development finance, going beyond overseas development assistance, to achieve the post-2015 agenda.

They also confirmed the value added of the Global Partnership as a forum for bringing all parties together to exchange on practices, share lessons learned, and maintain political momentum on commitments on quality of cooperation.