Despite high expectations, the third International Conference on Financing for Development, organized on 13th to 16th July in Addis Ababa, ended on a predictable note: the United Nations proclaimed it a roaring success while most CSOs expressed scepticism over the final outcome. Hours after the conclusion of the conference in the Ethiopian capital, the UN trumpeted the Addis Ababa Action Agenda as a “ground-breaking agreement that provides a foundation for implementing the global sustainable development agenda that world leaders are expected to adopt this September.” But Dr. Danny Sriskandarajah, Secretary-General of CIVICUS, was blunt said that this is a further sign that we are at the beginning of the end of the post-World War II development world order, and that rich countries seem unable or unwilling to increase official aid flows, which stand at a fraction of what they themselves promised years ago. More information is available here.
[CIVICUS/IPS]