Tag: UN

Submission for a UN Tax Convention

As the negotiations of Terms of Reference for a new United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation move forward, over 170 organisations and trade unions have responded to a consultation and made a joint submission to the Chair of the negotiations, specifying the key points that we expect the Convention to deliver on.

More than 170 CSOs and trade unions issue joint submission regarding a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (eurodad.org)

UN Pact for the Future

What does it offer for the reform of the international financial architecture?

The UN Pact for the Future | Global Policy Forum

Input to the ‘Future Summit’

The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors prepared its input to the ‘Future Summit’ of the United Nations that will be organised in 2024.

2023-GCSPF-submission-of-inputs-to-the-SotF.pdf (socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org)

A real chance for international tax cooperation

After decades of resistance by rich nations, African governments successfully pushed for the United Nations to lead on international tax cooperation. All developing countries and fair-minded governments must rally behind this initiative.

Read Jomo Kwame Sundartam’s article

Last chance for SDGs and climate?

Major financing for development (FfD) innovations have long been initiated by the UN. Special drawing rights (SDRs), ‘0.7 per cent of national income’ for official development assistance (ODA) and debt relief were all conceived in the UN around half a century ago.

The financialization of recent decades has undermined the mobilization and deployment of adequate financial resources to accelerate sustainable development and address global warming.

During the 1990s, the UN warned against new threats to economic stability. Some were due to volatile private capital flows and speculation, encouraged by deregulated financial markets, enabled by the IMF despite its Articles of Agreement.

By contrast, the UN has insisted on ensuring policy space for more effective development strategies by Member States. It has also urged macroeconomic policies to support long-term growth, technological progress and economic diversification.

The UN Secretariat has also promoted orderly sovereign debt relief. But Member States have long complained IFIs were shirking their mandates to provide financial stability and adequate long-term development finance.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

https://www.ksjomo.org/post/un-financing-appeal-last-hope-for-sdgs-and-climate

In favour of a UN Tax Convention

The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) has published an advanced unedited version of a game-changing report. It outlines the options for strengthening the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation and presents three possible roads ahead, all under the auspices of the UN. Eurodad welcomes this truly historic moment in international tax cooperation.

and also read Eurodad’s report on the same topic:

UN Finance for Development Process: the Best Chance for Democratic Economic Governance?

  • As BWIs fail to transform, countries should re-embrace more democratic space at the United Nations
  • UN Financing for Development Conference on horizon, with historic progress on tax cooperation raising hopes on debt

Read the analysis of the Bretton Woods Project

UN must Reclaim Multilateral Governance from Pretenders

International governance arrangements are in trouble. Multilateral agreements have been discarded or ignored by the powerful except when useful to protect their interests or provide legitimacy.

Read Jomo Kwame Sundaram’s article

Governments approve proposal for International Tax Cooperation at UN

Civil society organizations across the world welcome the approval of the Africa Group’s proposal for inclusive and effective tax cooperation at the United Nations. The resolution was approved by consensus at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) today and is a first step towards an inclusive, democratic and transparent process to reform global tax architecture.

For over two decades, developing countries have been calling for an intergovernmental tax negotiation process at the UN, which would allow all countries to participate in discussions and decision-making related to tax on an equal footing. “This is a historic win for the tax justice and the broader economic justice movement and a big step forward to combat illicit financial flows and tax abuse,” said Dereje Alemayehu, Executive Coordinator of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ). “Africa Group’s leadership has paved the way for starting an inclusive process at the UN to build a fair and effective international tax system. This resolution heralds a great opportunity for all UN Member States to move beyond words to action for the much-needed reforms of the global financial architecture,” explained Chenai Mukumba, Policy Research and Advocacy Manager at the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA). 

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