Financing for Development Conference

Ireland’s delegation to the Third International Financing for Development Conference was led by Minister of State for Development, Seán Sherlock

The Third International Conference on Financing for Development gathers high-level political representatives, including Heads of State and Government, and Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation. The Conference will adopt an intergovernmental agreement to establish a durable and sustainable financial framework to support the Sustainable Development Goals.

A comprehensive agreement at Addis is vital to ensuring the success of the Sustainable Development Goals negotiations in New York in September, which Ireland co-chairs with Kenya.

A comprehensive agreement at Addis is vital to ensuring the success of the Sustainable Development Goals negotiations in New York in September, which Ireland co-chairs with Kenya. The draft Outcome Document addresses domestic and international public finance, including Overseas Development Assistance; tax mobilisation, private finance; trade; science, technology and innovation; debt; systematic issues; and monitoring, review and accountability. As with the Sustainable Development Goals, commitments will be universal, applying to developed and developing countries alike. 

Minister Sherlock delivered Ireland’s National Statement at the conference, expressing Ireland’s ongoing commitment to reaching the 0.7% commitment, while also highlighting the need for other types of finance including domestic resource mobilisation for development, taxation, curbing illicit financial flows, trade, and private sector finance.

Minister Sherlock also participated in three important conference events: 

• Realizing the Vision: Investing in Rural People for Inclusive and Sustainable Transformation. Minister Sherlock joinedahigh-level panel with the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Rwandan Minister of Finance, and President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to consider how to finance rural development in particular. 

• Launch of OECD Multilateral Aid Report 2015 – Minister Sherlock delivered the opening speech at an event in the Irish Embassy to launch the 2015 Multilateral Aid report, which outlines the source and use of global multilateral funding. 

• Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development with the ONE Foundation – Minister Sherlock spoke at an event considering how to address and close basic data gaps and produce new analytics that empower citizens and leaders alike to use the information to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development. 

While in Ethiopia, Minister Sherlock is also participating in two important events with Irish organisations in Ethiopia – the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Maggrow, an Irish agriculture company supported through Ireland’s Africa Agri-Food Development Fund; and a conference on “Agriculture for Nutrition” organised by Agridiet, a University College Cork research programme aimed at enhancing nutrition in Ethiopia and Tanzania through agricultural policies and programmes.