WUNRN
https://www.escr-net.org/node/366465
Women’s
Groups Alarmed by Financing for Development Plan, Call on Governments to Adopt
Strong Political Declaration Rooted in Human Rights
Monday, July 27, 2015 - The Women’s
Major Group, representing more than 600 women’s groups from over 100
countries, is deeply disappointed with the outcome of the Third International
Conference on Financing for Development, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last
week. What came out of the conference, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, is the
world’s plan for implementing and financing global development. While the
Action Agenda is being heralded by many governments as a strong outcome for
women and girls, it fails to address profound inequalities in economic policies
and institutions that undermine human rights and gender equality.
“The new global development agenda is being described as
transformative, but we can’t expect change if it’s business as usual,” said
Tessa Khan, international human rights lawyer with Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development (APWLD, an ESCR-Net Member). “What’s needed is a more
equitable global economic and development system—one that protects, respects,
and fulfills human rights.”
One of the biggest disappointments was around
international tax cooperation; developed countries rejected a proposal by
developing countries for a global tax body that would have curbed illicit
financial flows by multinational corporations and allowed poorer countries to
increase their revenues. Under the current tax structure, developing countries
lose up to 10 times as much money in illicit financial flows as they get in
aid.
Further, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda fails to:
• Advance solutions to developing countries’ debt crises,
continuing to jeopardise the human rights of women and girls worldwide who bear
the burden of harsh austerity measures and debt repayments.
• Address systemic imbalances in the global financial
system or advance a new paradigm for democratic economic governance. Women
continue to act as shock absorbers and stabilisers during financial crises. • Regulate
the role of the private sector through binding frameworks that align their
actions with human rights and sustainable development objectives and hold
corporations accountable for violations of human rights and gender equality.
• Ensure that trade and investment agreements do not undermine policies intended to uphold human rights and provide decent work consistent with international labor standards.