Reflections on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda

During the European Development Days 2015 in June, we spoke with Arancha Gonzalez, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC). The ITC brings together the World Trade Organization and the United Nations to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. In advance of the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa, we asked Gonzalez to outline her ideal outcome for the conference.

She identified three key components that would be needed to ensure the Conference’s success:

1. A strong commitment to official development assistance (ODA) to fill the gaps that the market will not fill
2. Ensure that ODA is used efficiently and effectively
3. More usage of alternative sources of financing

Having had time to reflect on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), we asked Ms Gonzalez for a comment on the conference’s outcome. In a statement to capacity4dev, she said that, “The Financing for Development Conference takes a step in the right direction by clearly recognizing the central role that SMEs play in achieving the inclusive economic growth that will be central to the success of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda.” 

She also highlighted the need to maintain momentum throughout the rest of 2015 with strategies like investing in women entrepreneurs. “These are the types of issues that the international community needs to address, not least at the Climate Change Conference in Paris and the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi later this year. Poverty eradication and better livelihoods for all have never been closer within our collective reach, but getting there will not be easy.”

We’ve taken this opportunity to round up a wide variety of other responses to the AAAA. 

• The Guardian: “failure to establish new global tax body draws criticism”
• UN Women: “makes a strong political commitment to ‘ensure gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment’” 
• Devex: “it lacks the teeth needed”
• CSO FfD Group: “It does not rise to the world’s current multiple challenges”
• Center for Global Development: “a good first step, but a terrible last word”
• International Trade Union Confederation: “achieves little in terms of identifiable and concrete commitment”
• UNEP: “recognizes the need for public and private resource mobilization to meet the sustainable financing challenge”
• Oxfam: “Rich countries provide a poor outcome”
• Global Policy Watch: “Fishing for crumbs of hope in a sea of lost ambition”
• The Guardian Global Development: “at least it got the narrative right”