In preparation for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the first drafting session to prepare the outcome document was held in New York from 28-30 January 2015. The session provided an opportunity for the governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, private sector and other stakeholders to exchange ideas and discuss proposals for the draft outcome document of the Addis meeting. A paper outlining indicative elements and key policy ideas was prepared ahead of the session, which provided basis for the discussion. The building blocks included in the paper are: 1)Domestic public finance; 2)Domestic and international private finance; 3)International public finance; 4)Trade; 5)Technology, innovation and capacity building; 6)Sovereign debt and 7) Systemic issues.
The drafting session particularly focused on gathering proposals for the expected key deliverables for the Addis meeting and deliberated on how to make the FfD process more relevant and inline with the post 2015 agenda. Participants provided general views on the elements paper and suggested specific proposals for each building block included in the paper.
During the session, priorities on gender equality and women's empowerment were discussed to ensure that the outcome document includes strong language and specific policy recommendations to address gender inequality. UN Women emphasized that fulfilling gender equality commitments in the post 2015 agenda will require enhanced domestic resource mobilization, a stepping up of ODA commitments, and financing from all sources including private sector and non-traditional donors with full regard for women’s human rights. In addition, UN Women noted that for financing for gender equality to be truly transformative, it requires efforts by all actors to address both the structural causes and consequences of gender inequality, and, therefore, it is central to build multi-stakeholder partnerships in achieving adequate, predictable and robust financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women. It was also highlighted that full and equal participation of women and women’s organizations in decision-making at all levels is critical. A number of government representatives including regional groups reaffirmed their commitment for strengthening gender equality and women's rights and made strong proposals for the inclusion of gender equality priorities in the outcome document.
Based on these deliberations, a zero draft outcome document will be prepared by the end of February for further discussions. The next round of drafting sessions is scheduled to take place in New York from 13-17 April and 15-19 June, 2015.