Statement - International Financing for Development

Elements of an Inclusive Global Financing Model: Leveraging Human Rights, Sustainability, and Technology for Equitable Development

 

The financing framework must ensure equitable access to resources at national, regional, and global levels. It should be driven by human needs and environmental sustainability, targeting both immediate and long-term development goals. The following principles guide the approach:

  • Human Rights Economy: Financing should prioritize projects that align with human dignity, sustainability, and justice.
  • Technology Integration: Use near real-time data to inform financing decisions, monitor progress, and adjust strategies.
  • Public-Private Partnerships: Collaborations between governments, businesses, and civil society should optimize resources and maximize impact.

 

Action Areas

  • Policy Reform: Governments should be encouraged to enact progressive tax reforms, implement anti-corruption measures, and allocate more domestic resources toward social services and sustainable infrastructure.
  • Grassroots Project Verification Process (GPVP): Create a United Nations verification process for grassroots projects, ensuring funding for community-led initiatives that align with human rights and sustainability.
    • Local UN offices and NGO partners would conduct on-the-ground assessments of the projects to confirm authenticity and feasibility.
    • Verified projects would receive a UN-backed Grassroots Project Certification, accessible to individual and small donors.
    • The UN would collaborate with platforms like GoFundMe and Nngage.org to list verified projects and monitor ongoing reporting and evaluation of project progress.
    • Projects demonstrating exceptional progress or innovation would be highlighted in annual UN reports and may receive additional funding from large-scale donors or UN grants.

This model leverages the UN's global presence and resources ensuring small private donors can trust the projects they support while staying informed on progress. It is meant to help smaller projects attract funding and contribute to achieving the SDGs through localization.
This Grassroots Project Verification Process is about using existing UN resources to empower smaller often overlooked, community-led projects and generating quality data to drive change. It serves as an additional way to bring localization and Near real-time data to the Sustainable Development Goals, enabling the smallest projects to contribute meaningfully. 

 

Domestic and International Private Business and Finance

  • Reparatory Justice Funding: Facilitate reparatory funds for historically marginalized communities through both domestic and international businesses, particularly focusing on industries benefiting from labor exploitation.
  • Capacity Building: Provide additional development aid focusing on technology transfer and capacity building in underserved regions, especially in renewable energy, agroecology, and data-driven decision-making.
    • Support training programs, like those of the Toronto Black Farmers and Mali-Folkecenter Nyetaa, to support communities in sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and ecological food distribution systems.

 

Debt and Debt Sustainability

  • Debt Relief for Sustainable Investment: Advocate for debt cancellation for countries that invest in sustainable infrastructure.

 

Technology to Strengthen Systems

  • Encourage the Use of Blockchain and AI-Based Platforms: These technologies should be leveraged to enhance transparency in governance and financial systems, ensuring accountability across all levels.Technology for Social Justice
  • Promote the Use of AI, Robotics, and Other Digital Technologies: These technologies should be applied to minimize labor exploitation while encouraging the expansion to Universal Basic Healthcare, Housing, and Income to provide workers with greater power.

 

Data, Monitoring, and Follow-up

  • Leverage Near Real-Time Data: Use near real-time data to track project implementation, effectiveness, and environmental impacts. Use these insights to make adjustments to projects for greater efficiency.

 

This framework envisions a global financing system that is ethical, responsive, and adaptive. By centering human rights and sustainability and leveraging technology, it offers a comprehensive approach to addressing systemic issues like labor exploitation and environmental degradation. Through the grassroots verification process and strategic partnerships, small-scale projects can become powerful drivers for achieving the SDGs, ensuring that development is truly inclusive and just for all.

 

 

Submitted by:

Athletes United for Peace Coalition
An NGO in Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC

 

Contact:

Barbara Horne