Third International Conference on Financing for Development

Financing Local and Urban Development

The third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) was held from 13-16 July 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to agree on the financing mechanisms for the implementation of the Post-2015 Agenda.

The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF) has been following the preparatory process for FfD3 since last year. It participated in the Public Hearing in New York last April and as an observer in the Drafting Committee. The GTF has made recommendations and proposed amendments to the draft outcome document to the co-facilitators of the negotiations on behalf of its members.

A delegation of around 60 local representatives from 20 countries attended the Conference, including local authority representatives from Argentina, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, CapeVerde, Ethiopia, France, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Mozambique, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda,Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Local representatives participated in four of the six interactive Multi-Stakeholder Round Tables of the Conference, sharing their experiences and proposals with Members States, international organizations, representatives of civil society and the private sector.

In addition, the Global Taskforce, UCLG Committee on Local Finance and its partners, including UN-Habitat,UNCDF, UNISDR, the French Government and the OECD, organized eight side events on the role of local and regional governments in financing for development, the Post-2015 Agenda and the financing of urbanization and sustainable development.

THE CLFD in Addis Ababa

The CLFD hosted a special side-event dedicated to its project of Global Observatory on Local Finance, that was acknowledged as one of the Addis Ababa Initiatives at the end of the conference. 

UCLG has welcomed the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) agreed at the Conference as an indispensable tool to implement the Post-2015 Agenda. However, we also highlight the lack of attention given by the AAAA to the challenges and opportunities of rapid global urbanization. We have also warned of an excessive dependence on private sector infrastructure investments, and of the potential negative effects on social inclusion and environmental protection of such a policy.

One of our main concerns is the insufficient measure in the AAAA to address urbanization and “make cities and urban settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. The infrastructure commitments made in Addis Ababa need a stronger urban focus to address the specific demands of growing urban areas over the coming decade. Urban investments will need to double or triple over the next 15 to 20 years to prevent the growth of slums and ensure access to basic services to all urban-dwellers. Local authorities will carefully follow up the development and local  access to international funding, as means to address infrastructure and capacity gaps, promote clear urban targets and ensure the “localization” of investments to deliver basic services and resilient infrastructures accessible for all.

" (...) We hope that the global summits on the SDGs and COP 21 later this year will revive our optimism, encourage the mobilization of all stakeholders, and build on the AAAA to construct a more ambitious implementation process. Likewise, we look to Habitat III in 2016 to contribute to the implementation and achievement of the Post-2015 Agenda through the development of a fully‑fledged urban agenda that includes an ambitious territorial approach."

Extract of the UCLG take on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda