MCLD’s most recent event looked into multilateral processes and why they matter to us as champions and practitioners of community-led development.
MCLD participated in two United Nations international events this month – the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development held in Seville, Spain and the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in New York. These events can sometimes seem very removed – held in distant cities, with lots of jargon, and producing documents and statements that we may not read.
In this call, we discussed how these forums impact our work as organizations and as a network, why it is critical that communities, civil society and local government are centered, and how we can help shape them.
We explored:
- ‘International finance architecture’ – what that means and how issues around taxation, national debt, public-private partnerships and development metrics affect us
- Progress on the SDGs and what comes next
- The structure of these processes and how different interest groups feed in
- MCLD’s role in these spaces
With speakers:
- Fiana Arbab, International Finance Institutions (IFI) Policy Advisor, Oxfam International
- Mahinour ElBadrawi, Global Partnerships lead, Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR)
- Emma Burgisser, Economic Justice Policy Lead, Christian Aid
- Vitalice Meja, Coordinator/CPDE Co-Chair, reality of Aid Network Africa and FFD Civil Society Group
- John Coonrod, Founder and Chair, MCLD
- Gunjan Veda, Global Secretary, MCLD