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From 30 June to 3 July, the MPTFO joined Heads of State, Governments, and other partners at FfD4 – the pre-eminent forum for addressing financial challenges to sustainable development – in Sevilla, Spain.
While participating in discussions on a range of topics, from disability inclusion to climate data, and from multilateral finance to combatting desertification, each event was an opportunity to showcase how pooled funding has delivered in terms of enhancing the impact of development finance, reducing fragmentation, and piloting innovative approaches..
On 30 June, the MPTFO co-hosted a side event with the UN Joint SDG Fund on Power in Partnership: Reducing Fragmentation and Enhancing Effectiveness through Inter-Agency Pooled Funds, with participation from the Governments of Spain and Colombia. Mr Alain Noudéhou, the MPTFO Executive Director, highlighted the work of a number of funds, including the Joint SDG Fund, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), and the Trust Fund for Peace in Colombia. He called for increased collaboration across the system and with different types of partners, and flexible (‘core’ and pooled financing) resources as a solution to meet financing needs for SDGs amidst declining trends of ODA and UN system revenue.
At the Conference, MPTFO also partnered with The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation & Development of Germany (BMZ) on the topic of Financing the UN system: why is multilateral quality funding important? Colleagues shared the latest data on UN financing, and on the implementation of the UN Funding Compact. Discussion revolved around perspectives on better quality funding for development, and issues on UN financing from the audience.
On 1 July, Mr. Noudéhou participated in a panel at the Global Disability Fund side event, Financing for Disability-Inclusive Development: From underinvestment to social justice and growth, co-sponsored by the Governments of Germany, Jordan, and Spain. He highlighted the benefits of pooled funding mechanisms – such as the Global Disability Fund – in mobilizing and channeling resources more effectively across relevant stakeholders.
On 1 July, Mr. Noudéhou participated in a panel at the Global Disability Fund side event, Financing for Disability-Inclusive Development: From underinvestment to social justice and growth, co-sponsored by the Governments of Germany, Jordan, and Spain. He highlighted the benefits of pooled funding mechanisms – such as the Global Disability Fund – in mobilizing and channeling resources more effectively across relevant stakeholders.
On 2 July, the Office facilitated a strategic session as part of the SOFF event on Scaling Up Financing for Early Warning Systems. Moderated by Mr. Noudéhou, and joined by representatives from the World Meteorological Organization, SOFF, the Nordic Development Fund and Member States, the panel shared perspectives on the innovative SOFF Impact Bond, a novel financing instrument currently under design with the aim of closing the global climate observations gap, providing partners with better early-warning data, saving lives across the globe.
The latest addition to the FfD ‘architecture’ agreed by Heads of States and Governments, the Compromiso de Sevilla (Sevilla Commitment), also includes a call to prioritize core and inter-agency pooled funding, to reduce fragmentation, improve access to development finance, and support countries in realizing the transformative potential of the SDGs, for people, planet, and prosperity.