Kenya attends Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)

The Government of Spain has convened the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) from 30^th June to 3^rd July 2025 in Seville, Spain in alignment to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 78/231 of 22 December 2023. Resolution 78/231 called for the convening in 2025 of a Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development whose objective would be to assess the progress made in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, the Doha Declaration and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, identify obstacles and constraints encountered in the achievement of the goals and to address new and emerging issues, including in the context of the urgent need to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to support reform of the international financial architecture. 

Kenya’s Delegation at the FfD4 in Seville, Spain is led by H.E. the President who  is expected to participate in various events including the FfD4 Opening Segment and first Plenary meeting to beheld on 30^th June 2025. Kenya will also participate in the General Debate where the President will deliver the country’s National Statement. The President will share his reflections on how to implement the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ to advance financing for development. 

The 2025 FfD4 Forum is expected to adopt the Compromiso de Sevilla’ (the Seville Commitment, which was finalized on 17^th June 2025 by Member States at UN Headquarters. This is the FFD4 Political Declaration, main outcome document of the Conference which is being co-facilitated by Mexico, Nepal, Norway, and Zambia. 

FfD4 aims to assess progress made in the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the outcomes of the previous Financing for Development Conferences, address new and emerging issues, including in the context of the urgent need to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the SDGs, and support reform of the international financial architecture.The AAAA adopted in July 2015 built on previous global commitments, Monterrey (2002) and Doha (2008) and sought to address the financing needs critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will be recalled that reaffirmation of global commitments was central to the AAAA where Member States renewed their dedication to the unfulfilled agenda of the 2002 Monterrey Consensus and the 2008 Doha Declaration, with the objective of ending poverty and hunger while promoting inclusive economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. 

Presently, there has been notable but uneven progress towards the actualization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the commitments of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda remain largely unfulfilled. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) financing gap has continued to rise from approximately USD 2.5 trillion to an estimated USD 4.0 trillion annually for developing countries. The Summit of the Future, reaffirmed that the widening financing gap alongside multiple global crises continue to subdue developing countries’ pursuit of sustainable development. 

The 2024 Financing for Development Report highlights that countries are significantly off track with approximately half of 140 SDG targets either stalled or regressed. The 2025 UN SDG Progress Report further indicates that only about 35 percent of the 137 targets with available data are on track or moderate while progress on 47 per cent of the targets remains insufficient. 18 per cent of these SDG targets have regressed from the 2015 baseline. 

This year’s forum will among other things seek to deliberate on several thematic areas including domestic public resources; international trade as an engine for development; debt and debt sustainability; domestic and international private business and finance; and international development cooperation. Various preparatory meetings have taken place with Kenya taking part, these include the First Session of the PrepCom held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2^nd to 26^th July 2024); the Second Session of the PrepCom held in New York City (3^rd to 6^th December, 2024); the third Session of the PrepCom held in New York City (10^th to 14^th February 2025); the FFD Follow-Up Forum held from 28^th to 29^th April 2025 in New York; the fourth Session of the PrepCom (Part I) held at the UN Headquarters, New York (from 30^th April to 1^st May, 2025); and the fourth Session of the PrepCom (Part II) at the UN Headquarters, New York (17^th June 2025). 

The focus areas that inform deliberations for the FfD4 Outcome Document include reforming of the International Monetary Fund, Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) and other intergovernmental development finance institutions that are deemed to be independent; establishment of a debt authority and the proposed role of UN in the global debt architecture; the elimination of unilateral economic, financial and trade measures. It will be seen what recommendations are made taking into consideration that the member states are divided with the USA, Japan, United Kingdom and the European Union taking one side calling for the establishment of a global debt authority while Kenya aligns with the Group of 77 (G77) and China as well as the Africa Group position in endorsing the proposed outcome document. 

During the FfD4 Summit, global leaders will launch the Sevilla Platform for Action and discuss how it will be implemented.Building on the FfD4 outcome document, the Sevilla Platform for Action seeks to mobilize alliances of countries and other stakeholders to implement specific initiatives to take forward financing actions for sustainable development. 

While in Spain the President is expected to have bilaterals with the King of Spain, the President of the Government of Spain, the President of France, the President of Poland, the President of Haiti and the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. He will also meet the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Areas of interest for Kenya during the Sevilla Summit include discussions centered on mobilizing and aligning domestic public resources, leveraging private business and finance, realizing a development-oriented sovereign debt architecture and reforming the international financial architecture and addressing systemic issues. 

While calling for international structural and financial reforms in the global systems, Kenya continually seeks to scale up financial inclusion to expand access to financial products and services to the underserved groups (women, youth, persons with disabilities) and unserved regions; reduce remittances costs to attract diaspora contribution to private capital mobilization; adopt blended financing as a form of de-risking private investment and crowding in private capital among others; align private business and finance with sustainable development. 

Kenya’s observation is that there exist longstanding structural barriers in development cooperation, including conditionality, tied aid, and restricted access to concessional finance, particularly for climate-related needs. These challenges limit the effectiveness and inclusivity of current financing mechanisms. Further, in light of shrinking Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), Kenya advocates for diversified financing mechanisms, including domestic resource mobilization, expanded South-South Cooperation, private sector involvement, and innovative financing solutions, to sustain development momentum.

The conference brings together relevant stakeholders from Governments, the United Nations System, Intergovernmental Organizations, International Financial Institutions, Non-governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organizations, Business and Industry, Academia and Think Tanks, the Private Sector, and Foundations and Philanthropies, to assess the challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, the Doha Declaration and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, identifying obstacles and constraints encountered in the achievement of the SDG goals.