In the pivotal months prior to the Third Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3), Regions Refocus, European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York Office co-constructed a space for critical, cross-regional collaboration between and within civil society and governments. Participants shared perspectives on FfD3, and, with an eye towards COP20 in Lima and upcoming post-2015 negotiations, they considered its intersections with climate justice and a broader sustainable development framework.
Bringing together civil society organizations from Europe and the South, the first strategy session produced a roadmap towards a shared plan of action in the six months leading up to the FfD3. This roadmap articulated shared positions on domestic and international public finance, and the structural factors that constrained actors in their different contexts. At a broader meeting with European government representatives, participants unpacked their different positioning on issues such as domestic resource mobilization, private finance, international trade, Official Development Assistance, and external debt. These meetings provided an invaluable space for civil society actors in particular to sharpen progressive, cross-regional analysis and develop shared strategies in what proved to be a decisive year of intergovernmental negotiations.