Side Event: FfD4 PrepCom in Addis Ababa

July 23, 2024 | Addis Ababa

Leading up to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), to be held June-July 2025 in Spain, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) New York Office and Jubilee USA Network jointly organized a Side Event at the First Session of the FfD4 Preparatory Committee (FfD PrepCom) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The 2025 FfD4 Conference will need to tackle an urgent challenge: how to create Debt Sustainability Assessments (DSAs) that prevent debt crises and facilitate their resolution while providing enough support to the investments needed for development and climate goals. Moreover, the FfD4 Conference will need to do so amidst rising debt vulnerabilities and shrinking fiscal space in developing countries, facing an aggregate bill for their development and climate goals that ranges in the trillions of dollars. 

Yet, under current methodologies, many of those countries are not acknowledged as undergoing a debt crisis. For those in default, current methodologies may not afford sufficient fiscal space to address the above challenges. The growing incidence of shocks, subdued growth and high interest rates, and a more complex landscape of creditors only add to the obstacles.

Titled "Debt Sustainability Assessments Fit to Today’s Development and Global Challenges: Laying Out the Task for FfD4," the Side Event by FES New York and Jubilee USA brought together a broad range of FfD stakeholders for a timely discussion on 1) how existing debt sustainability methodologies fare in the context of current challenges and 2) to present actionable proposals for improving them.  

Speakers:

• Mr. Matthew Martin, Director, Development Finance International
• Ms. Gail Hurley, Independent senior researcher and advisor on development finance (online)
• Mr. Robert Powell, Special Representative to the UN and Director of IMF Office in New York
• Mr. Volker Hey, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development – BMZ
• Ms. Patricia Miranda, Director of Global Advocacy, Latindadd

Moderated Q&A Session