Publications

The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) is due to take place in Seville, Spain from 30 June to 3 July 2025. According to the United Nations (UN) Member States, the conference is designed to assess progress and obstacles in implementing the outcomes of the three previous FfD conferences in Monterrey (2002), Doha (2008) and Addis Ababa (2015), as well as agreeing on measures and initiatives to overcome obstacles and address new challenges in the face of global [...]

From December 16 to 20, 2024, 74 states came together at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to negotiate an international legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises (also known as a “UN Treaty”). Since the adoption of Resolution 26/9 by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014, the intergovernmental working group mandated to draft such a treaty has already met ten times. The meeting was postponed from mid-October to December due [...]

Preparations for Second World Summit for Social Development

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will take place in Seville in June 2025. This is against the backdrop of massive delays in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, not least due to deficits in development financing. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) financing gap, which was estimated at US$ 2.5 trillion in 2015, has not been closed or reduced over the last decade. Instead, it has grown to over US$ 4 trillion annually. In addition, the decade [...]

The process towards a legally binding instrument on business and human rights (also known as the “UN Treaty”) has now been underway for a decade. The initiative is based on the realisation that the activities of transnationally operating companies are not sufficiently regulated under human rights law. The transnational nature of these companies, their economic power and unilaterally formulated investment protection agreements often make it difficult to hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable and to provide victims with [...]

GPUNW No.11 explores how the question of Palestine has been taken up by Member States across a range of UNHQ processes. The selection from recent deliberations is presented in two parts.

GPUNW No.11 explores how the question of Palestine has been taken up by Member States across a range of UNHQ processes. The selection from recent deliberations is presented in two parts.

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Special Edition: Right to Development

The international financial architecture is in urgent need of reform. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, it is "outdated, dysfunctional and unjust". The main institutions were created 80 years ago in a transatlantic agreement, at a time when many of the world's nation-states of today were still colonies. Moreover, the institutions have failed in their mission to prevent and mitigate crises and to mobilize sufficient financing for internationally agreed development goals.

The reform of the international financial architecture [...]