UN Forum Wrestles with Funding Development

New York City - After months of negotiations and four days of formal meetings, the United Nations voted on development policies at the fourth UN Financing for Development Forum. The UN meetings convene world leaders, ministers, governments, the IMF, World Bank and development groups. The annual process attempts to implement the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda, an international agreement that includes policies on debt, tax, trade, transparency and aid.

"If we can improve trade, debt and tax policies, we can mobilize the resources to end extreme poverty and achieve the UN development goals," stated Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte. LeCompte helped forge the 2015 UN Addis Ababa Financing for Development agreement. "The developing world loses more than a trillion dollars annually because of unsustainable debts, tax evasion, tax avoidance, corruption, trade practices and a lack of loan and budget transparency."

The UN meetings took place days after the IMF issued two reports warning of a potential financial crisis due to risky market behaviors and high sovereign and corporate debt.

"The same financial and economic policies that can fund development are some of the same policies that can prevent financial crisis," noted LeCompte who addressed the UN body on Thursday. "While these meetings are helpful for education and to build greater consensus, implementation is not moving quickly enough."

The Financing for Development process will continue during High-Level UN meetings in the Fall and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals process.