Development Finance International
27 July - Who Pays For Progress?
A new report from Results UK uses Kenya as a case study to explore the implications of scaling-up Universal Health Care (UHC) in a country graduating from lower income to lower middle income status, and the challenge this will pose the country as Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) levels for health reduces in future years.
While acknowledging the need for ODA to continue to play a vital role, they also point to the increasingly important role domestic resource mobilisation (DRM) will have to play in the context of stagnating aid - especially when aid has previously provided close to 50% of the health budget (rising to 70% in some highly donor dependent sub-sections, such as HIV & AIDS).
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14 July - NEW: Health Spending Scorecard
Are African countries meeting the health spending targets? Based on the latest GSW spending data, this scorecard developed by GSW and the Africa Health Budget Network provides an at-a-glance view of 30 African countries’ performance in reaching health spending targets.
The scorecard assesses performance on 4 indicators:
1. Is government health spending consistent with country wealth?
2. Is health spending prioritised in the government budget?
3. Does the government spend enough on each person’s health?
4. Is government health spending transparent?
13 July - ADDIS SIDE EVENT TODAY: Beyond BEPS and Beyond Addis
13.15-14.45 @ Elilly Hotel (Classic Hall)
Come and hear what developing countries and independent experts have to say about what is wrong with the international tax system and what needs to be done to make it fairer and more progressive.
To finance the SDGs and build a just world without poverty, the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa must produce a communiqué which encourages the international community to reform the international tax system fundamentally, going beyond the BEPS/AEOI initiatives, so that developing countries can mobilise theresources needed for their development.
This side event will allow stakeholders to discuss the priority global and national measures which are needed to ensure a much more significant increase in tax revenues in developing countries, and the initiatives being taken to introduce such measures. The discussion will cover changing tax treaties, eliminating tax exemptions, combatting illicit flows, and going way beyond BEPS in the fight against corporate tax evasion and avoidance.
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2 July - Belgian Parliament Adopts Anti-Vulture Funds Law
The Belgian Government took action on 1st July 2015 has to prevent creditors from exploiting the poorest countries in the world through the Belgian courts. Supporters of international financial regulation have welcomed the country’s pioneering move to pass a law reinforcing Belgian tribunals’ legal framework to tackle so-called “vulture funds”.
The legislation will now cut the wind out of creditors’ sails from using Belgian courts to extract harsh and inequitable payments from poor countries for debts that the investment companies or funds have bought for a fraction of the cost. Belgian tribunals will now be equipped with more effective tools to implement a more stringent regulation against such speculative behaviour and will therefore ensure developing countries are protected from companies’ exploitative practices which hinder their economic growth and development.
For more information, you can read a blog on this issue by Eurodad and consult an article (in French) by Belgian NGO CNCD-11.11.11 which has been actively advocating for years for this legislation to come to fruition.
18 June - Are PRSPs in Sub-Saharan Africa as Effective as Expected?
A new IMF publication takes stock of poverty reduction strategies implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the context of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). This paper finds that there is no conclusive evidence that its implementation has played a role in reducing poverty and increasing the income share of the poor. In fact, the research reveals that despite PRSP countries’ post-crisis economic resilience, the poverty headcount has not reduced and growth has more than proportionately benefited the top quintile during PRSP implementation.
