For the past 8 months, UN member states have been negotiating the Addis Action Agenda – the outcome document that leaders will sign onto this week at the Financing For Development (FFD) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. You can imagine how difficult it might be trying to get agreement between almost 200 countries. Even so, ONE has been advocating loudly for key commitments that will benefit the poorest countries and the poorest people, especially girls and women, and thus help achieve the #1 goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
Here’s what we want to see committed to in Addis this week:
- A new social compact to meet everyone’s basic needs. We cannot end poverty everywhere if some people are left behind. ONE is calling for leaders at FfD to agree a minimum level of spending per person to deliver a basic package, including health and education, for all citizens by 2020. Governments will need to determine what that package looks like for each country.
- Prioritizing aid to the poorest countries and the poorest people. In addition to commitments to increase overall aid towards 0.7%, development partners must allocate 50% of their aid budgets to the poorest countries with the greatest need – the least developed countries (LDCs).
- Increasing domestic revenues and clamping down on corruption and illicit financial flows. To fund basic services for their citizens, governments should increase domestic revenues towards ambitious, nationally-defined revenue to GDP targets. This can be achieved through implementing fair tax policies, curbing corruption and stemming illicit flows.
- Investing in the data revolution to improve accountability and empower citizens. As well as a funding plan, FfD needs to set out a plan to harness data to drive sustainable development. We want to see a new global partnership secured in Addis to finance data collection and use, so that all development commitments can be accurately tracked.
Thanks to everyone who has participated in a ONE action on FFD over the past few months – lending your voice to thousands of others to show world leaders that we are watching. ONE’s team is on the ground in Addis, meeting with leaders and ensuring these priorities remain a key focus. Keep an eye on the blog this week for updates from colleagues and some exciting new initiatives.
