International Conference on Financing Sustainable Development

 
What:     The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is organizing an International Conference on ‘Financing Sustainable Development ~ Curbing Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs)’.
 
The issue will be tackled in seven dynamic sessions exploring progress, emerging threats and opportunities in financing development; private finance, development cooperation, trade and debt sustainability; domestic resource mobilization and the implications of illicit financial flows (IFFs) as well as their motives, drivers, channels of delivery and emerging challenges in addition to IFFs related to governance, corruption and transnational crime as well as taxation.
 
When:             Wednesday 28 - Thursday 29 November 2018 starting at 8:30am
 
Where:            ESCWA Headquarters, Riad el-Solh Square, Beirut, Lebanon
 
Why:      The conference aims to support the mobilization of long-term development finance and boost the transitioning from funding to financing (F2F) transformative change, as well as lead the path towards deploying the necessary measures to combat Illicit Financial Flows, particularly as these flows continue to evolve, both in scale and sophistication, undermining national and regional tendencies to finance sustainable development.
 
There are mounting concerns that financing in the Arab region is not happening at the pace that can turn conflicts, inequalities and other socio-economic hardships into an issue of the past, let alone achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 
The challenges facing the region are no longer confined to the traditional factors influencing economic frailty; today they involve a broader stream of factors, including foreign direct investment reflux; private capital constraints and reversals; debt distress; subdued trade growth and increased exposures to illicit finance.
 
The Conference offers an important milestone ahead of the 2019 High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development and the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
 
Who:     
Key speakers:

• Mr. Mounir Tabet, Acting Executive Secretary, ESCWA
• Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President, The World Bank Group
• Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD)
• Mr. Ahmed Said Khalil, Vice President of the Court of Cassation, Representative of the Governor of the Central Bank of the Arab Republic of Egypt
• Mr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, The Arab Republic of Egypt (Chairman of the G77 & China)
• Mr. Ali Hassan Khalil, Minister of Finance, The Republic of Lebanon

 
Participants:
High-level dignitaries and representatives from the G77 and China, alongside international civil society organizations and experts, institutional stakeholders, UN regional commissions and academicians who are actively involved in advancing research and implementing policies aimed at curbing IFFs.
 
 
The ESCWA Communication and Information Unit (ECIU) kindly asks media representatives wishing to cover this meeting to register online here.
 
 
 

 
For more information:
 
Mr. Nabil Abu-Dargham, Head of the ESCWA Communication and Information Unit:
+961-70-99 31 44; dargham@un.org  
Ms. Rania Harb: +961-70-00 88 79;  harb1@un.org
Ms. Mirna Mahfouz: +961-70-87 23 72; mahfouz@un.org