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The First Finance in Common Summit was held, which brought together the world’s public development banks

The Finance in Common Summit, held from November 9 to 12, is the first global summit to be attended by all the world’s development banks and multilateral institutions. Civil society organizations from different regions have demonstrated in the absence of human rights and the voices of the communities on the event’s agenda.

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Between November 9 and 12, 2020, the Finance in Common Summit was held, which was attended by 450 Public Development Banks of the world, multilateral institutions, heads of State, representatives of the private sector, civil society, academia, among others. The event was an initiative of the World Federation of Financial Institutions for Development -FEMIDE- and the International Development Finance Club -IDFC-. It was sponsored by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron and by the French Development Agency -AFD; and counted with the participation of the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.

The summit focused on the crucial role that Public Development Banks play as capable and necessary actors to provide a collective response to global challenges, agreeing on short-term sustainable recovery measures on the COVID-19 crisis and with an impact on long-term in the environment and in societies. However, the Summit’s agenda did not address human rights, rights that are constantly violated and violated by the investments of development banks. Thus, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, local communities, and human rights defenders did not have a space to express their concerns and concerns.

This, despite the fact that in September, more than 200 civil society organizations from around the world sent a letter to the French Development Agency requesting that the principles of development that is focused on rights be included and prioritized. humans. Due to the lack of response, CSOs issued a Joint Declaration calling on Public Development Banks -BPD- to invest their financial resources in building a just, equitable, inclusive and sustainable future for all societies in the world. 

This summit should be an opportunity for development banks to modify the way they operate and place democracy, inclusion, equality, solidarity and the common good as the axis of their actions. It is urgent that PDBs commit to financing for fair, equitable and sustainable development, promoting and guaranteeing human rights for all, without neglecting vulnerable and marginalized communities.

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Contact
Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org