Addis Venue in a Quest for over $22.5 Trillion

Addis Abeba is bracing itself to receive over 6,000 delegates who have confirmed their participation at an international summit called to discuss  new and innovative ways of soliciting funds to pay for the second generation of development programmes.

Known in the parlance of development experts as sustainable development goals (SDGs), the UN-sponsored blueprint has much wider and loftier ambitions than the eight goals espoused by its offspring, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). From clean energy, protecting the planet, and responsible consumption, to good jobs and economic development; peace and justice, and sustainable cities and communities, nine new goals are set for Heads of State with seats at the UN to meet and endorse in New York, in September 2015.

The four-day summit to be held in Addis Abeba beginning on Monday, July 13, 2015, is a crucial event to agree on ways to pay for the realisation of the 17 goals. The global community will be required to raise close to 1.5 trillion dollars a year for the next 15 years in order to see that these goals are met, according to a study jointly carried out by Oxfam International and Development Finance International (DFI).

Among the high profile personalities scheduled to arrive tomorrow is United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, along with his delegates. The army of his delegation is matched only by the World Bank, whose President, Jim Yong Kim, is expected to arrive along with 90 delegates. Although smaller in size, the United States will be represented by Jack Lew, Secretary of Treasury, according to people familiar with the organisers of the summit. A 70-strong European Union’s (EU) delegation will be led by Neven Mimica, the Croatian diplomat serving as the current Commissioner for International Cooperation & Development, according to sources at the EU.

The summit is also to see the presence of no less than 20 Heads of State, largely from the developing world. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is designated to be chairman for the duration of the conference and sources disclosed to Fortune that his administration is alert in securing the stay and wellbeing of delegates. To this end, the government has formed a command post comprising forces from the federal and city police, securing all the hotels across the city as well as the convention centre. Hotels in Addis Abeba have been fully booked beginning over the weekend, with no less than 7,000, hotel rooms reserved, Fortune confirmed.

On behalf of residents of Addis Abeba, its Mayor, Deriba Kuma, has extended his hospitality to the delegates.

“I would like to convey the warm greetings and best wishes of the residents of Addis Abeba who are always delighted to see you, our guests from across the world, amongst us,” the Mayor said in a statement sent exclusively to Fortune. “I wish you all a fruitful deliberation.”

What imprint the summit in Addis Abeba will leave in the global quest for mega finance, is yet to be seen. However, the world and its member nations have murky waters to navigate before they reach to a deal experts believe could save the world from impending adversity.

Alessandra Casazza is one such expert involved in organising the summit.

“This generation is the last one to save the world,” she told Fortune on Friday, from her office located off Africa Avenue, near Olympia. “This world is more vulnerable than it was back in 2000 when MDGs was launched. The climate disaster that has been affecting many developing countries and all the environmental change makes the world now at more risk.”

Ironically, the very terminologies and concepts applied during the global negotiation in climate change and control are few of the dividing issues among delegates who will be here to discuss the prospects of paying for global development. The concept of “common but differentiated responsibility” a.k.a CBDR, is jargon negotiators are keen in using over climate talks.

It is international environment law which establishes that all countries are responsible for responding to environmental destruction, although not all can take equal responsibility. While demanding every nation to do something about environmental problems, the CBDR, formalised in 1992 in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, puts the blame on countries with developed economies.

It is Brazil, along with India, who is very keen to see the same concept applied to the talks on financing development to be held in Addis Abeba, according to people knowledgeable of the summit. It raises hair among delegates from the developed economies, such as US, Canada, Japan and EU, according to these people. They see no relevance of this concept to be employed while discussing largesse to disadvantaged communities in poor countries.

Many others, particularly from the UN system, would like to see the seven-paged “Addis Abeba Action Agenda” representing a major shift in the whole financing scheme.

“We are trying to shift the paradigm that was there,” Casazza told Fortune. “Money used to flow in a vertical movement from north to south. We are trying to make this a 360-degree relationship between every country.”

One proposed way of doing that is to change the architecture of aid from wealthy nations, who have committed to give 0.07pc of their GDP to poor countries, to international cooperation on tax. While the concept and even the practice is not new, delegates from developing nations would like to see such taxation be administered by an international permanent agency, as opposed to the haphazard system currently overseen by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), the Paris based organisation of 34 rich countries.

Despite varying views on the modalities of generating funds, the summit in Addis Abeba is considered to be a milestone in mobilising over 22 trillion dollars over the next 15 years.

“To promote prosperity and well-being, we need to invest ahead for people and the planet,” said Casazza.

Little can be said now if all the delegates due to arrive in Addis will share her sense of urgency.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.