Leaders urged to mobilise resources for dev't

Jul 10, 2015

Ugandans stand to gain if next week’s African summit in the Ethiopian capital addresses challenges affecting mobilization of resources in the economy.


By Francis Emorut                                       

Ugandans stand to gain if next week’s African summit in the Ethiopian capital addresses challenges affecting mobilization of resources in the economy, says Alvin Munyansia, an official of the Pan African Programme.

Over 50 heads of state, ministers, development partners and other special representatives will convene in Addis Ababa for the four-day conference starting July 13.

It is open to participation by all state members of the United Nations or state members of specialized agencies and observers of in the General Assembly, including the civil society organisations and private sector.

Ahead of the meet, here in Kampala, delegates from 25 African countries attended a pan African civil society organization conference on financing development.

Here, Munyansia said African leaders need to tackle the issue of tax evasion by multinational companies.

And to this, he said, an intergovernmental body for cooperation in tax matters should be created.

The international conference, held at Imperial Golf View Hotel in Entebbe this week, was conveyed by Reality of Aid African Network in conjunction with Uganda National NGO Forum.

It aimed at reviewing the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and Doha declaration on financing for development.

Munyansia, who also works with Oxam, said tax issues involve developed and developing countries and equal footing in decision making should ensure that developing countries get their fair share of corporate tax revenues.

According to him, tax holidays granted to some multinational companies cause governments to lose revenue – revenue that would otherwise be injected in infrastructure development to enable Ugandans access markets for their produce.

He also tasked African heads of states and governments to tackle unfulfilled commitments made in the last international conference at Doha of providing 0.7% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"In Addis Ababa there is the opportunity to redefine how a global partnership for development should work," said Vitalice Meja, the coordinator of Reality of Aid Africa Network.

A renewed global partnership for development should acknowledge and safeguard the effectiveness principles as the cornerstones to any kind of cooperation for development, he added.
 

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African leaders will meet in Addis Ababa next week


Caroline Amali Okao, Uganda’s state minister for microfinance, noted that it is vital for presidents to deliberate on challenges that cause corruption, capital outflows and trade imbalances, as these have adverse impact on financing for development.

Meanwhile, Florence Nazare, the head of capacity development at New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), pointed out that increases in international concessional aid and national public spending must be targeted at reducing economic and social inequalities and poverty.

She said more spending on public services should be geared towards women and other disadvantaged groups, sustainable agriculture and small-scale food production as well as citizens’ efforts to hold governments accountable.

The civil society group felt the Addis Ababa conference should address such issues as:
 

  • fully operationalizing the paradigm shift towards democratic country leadership in development,
  • defining a global partnership for development as the policy space that will allow each country to make its own sound and inclusive decisions on its development
  • focusing on implementation of existing commitments on human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability and  decent work
  • ensuring that Overseas Development Aid (ODA) and domestic resources should be focused on reducing poverty, tackling inequalities and supporting sustainable development, and
  • strongly acting against illicit financial flows which prevent sustainable development
     

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