Roundup: Developing countries express reservations as UN adopts financing for development agenda

Developing countries on Monday expressed numerous reservations despite joining developed countries in adopting the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development in the UN General Assembly.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 plus China (G77+China), which represents 134 developing countries, Kingsley Mamabolo, South Africa's ambassador to the UN, described some of the agenda' s key achievements as compromises and highlighted several other " issues of principle" that had not been adequately addressed.

Mamabolo made the remarks while speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly to consider an agenda adopted in the Ethiopian capital by the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, held on July 13-16.

On July 16, world countries have agreed to new initiatives on technology, infrastructure, social protection, health and climate change among others to achieve the post-2015 sustainable development goals. The countries agreed to the initiatives at a time when they reached the historic agreement called the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

The Action Agenda provides a foundation for implementing the global sustainable development agenda that world leaders are expected to adopt in New York in September this year.

Primarily, Mamabolo called for "the explicit reaffirmation of the key principle of common but differentiated responsibility in the context of the global partnership for development as the basis for all international cooperation on sustainable development."

The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities establishes that while all countries are responsible for contributing to sustainable development, countries that have historically been richer have additional responsibilities.

Mamabolo also highlighted other issues that needed to be addressed, including calling on development partners to meet their commitments to aid and upscale their official development assistance "within binding timetables," and calling for the UN tax committee to be upgraded to an intergovernmental body.

He added that it was important that there is recognition that climate finance is new and additional to official development assistance and that the two different kinds of financing should not be counted twice or mixed.

However, Mamabolo also acknowledged some key achievements in the Addis agenda including progress made on a global infrastructure forum, debt sustainability and technology transfer. Several members of the G77+China also spoke during the meeting -- including Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil -- expressing their own reservations.

Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Brazil's ambassador to the UN, expressed regret that more progress had not been made on tax cooperation.

"Notwithstanding the progress achieved in Addis we regret that there was no consensus to upgrade the tax committee to an intergovernmental body as proposed by the G77 and China and widely supported by civil society, renowned economists, and policy makers around the world, not to mention the media," he said.

Venezuela's representative said the agenda document "does not fully reflect the diversity of opinions" on financing for development.

The representative of Ethiopia, who hosted the Addis Ababa conference, expressed the heartfelt satisfaction of the Ethiopian government for the honor and privilege of hosting the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

A small number of other countries that are not members of the G77+China -- including the United States and Canada -- gave brief statements primarily expressing their support for the resolution adopting the agenda.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also expressed overall approval for the agreement, saying "the Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides a guide for actions by all stakeholders."

"It has laid a strong foundation to support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, including the sustainable development goals," he said. Enditem