poverty

MSMEs in the Informal Sector: Formalization Ensure Sustainable Finance and Decent Jobs?

About 2 billion workers, or over 60 percent of the world’s adult labor force, operate in the informal  sector –at least part-time, according to the ILO. The COVID-19 pandemic hit informal workers  particularly hard, especially women. Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), both formal and  informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe and offer employment to one-third of 1.2  billion people in the world who work in the informal sector. They generate services for other sectors  like small and large industries, retail, tourism, transportation, construction, etc., and contribute to over  30% of GDP and more than 70% of all jobs created in developing countries. MSMEs were heavily  impacted by the pandemic and continue to face existential challenges on various fronts including but  not limited to business formalization.

MSMEs, both formal and informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe1 and contribute to more than half of the GDP in most countries irrespective of income2. As many countries struggle to cope with the growing debt burdens and limited fiscal space to finance the SDGs, the important role of MSMEs as catalytic forces for achieving the SDGs cannot be stressed enough. Despite formalization gathering pace, MSMEs and those in the informal sector also continue to struggle to access formal finance. Without the appropriate regulatory reforms, social protection measures, access to formal finance, and capacity building in tools such as financial literacy and numeracy tools to help manage finances effectively, inclusive growth and a decent work environment for those in the sector will remain a challenge. As part of the Development Cooperation Strategy 2020-25, the ILO is forging partnerships that advance policy objectives and coherence within the framework of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) that promote Financing Decent Work. In this panel, the speakers will share global and on-the-ground perspectives and explore steps countries are taking through regulatory reforms, access to finance, and capacity building to ensure sustainable finance and decent work for MSMEs in the informal sector.

Register here!

Speakers:  

  • H.E. Mr. Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the  UN (TBC) 
  • Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief, UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General
  • Ms. Adriana Marina, Founder of Hecho por Nosotros & animaná, Argentina
  • Mr. Amar G. Prabhu, Principal of Don Bosco Industrial Training Institute Kurla, Mumbai, India
  • Ms. Sandie Ejang Elobu, CEO, Western Silk Road, Ltd., Uganda 
  • Ms. Nana Efua Brown-Orleans, Program Lead, Duapa Workspace, Ghana 
  • Ms. Estella Kabagaya Eldradaa, Founder, Mama Children Village, Uganda

Organizers: NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Virginia  Gildersleeve International Fund (DBA Women First International Fund), Salesian Missions Inc, Africa  Development Interchange Network, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of Charity Federation

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org.

MSMEs in the Informal Sector: Formalization Ensure Sustainable Finance and Decent Jobs?

About 2 billion workers, or over 60 percent of the world’s adult labor force, operate in the informal  sector –at least part-time, according to the ILO. The COVID-19 pandemic hit informal workers  particularly hard, especially women. Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), both formal and  informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe and offer employment to one-third of 1.2  billion people in the world who work in the informal sector. They generate services for other sectors  like small and large industries, retail, tourism, transportation, construction, etc., and contribute to over  30% of GDP and more than 70% of all jobs created in developing countries. MSMEs were heavily  impacted by the pandemic and continue to face existential challenges on various fronts including but  not limited to business formalization.

MSMEs, both formal and informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe1 and contribute to more than half of the GDP in most countries irrespective of income2. As many countries struggle to cope with the growing debt burdens and limited fiscal space to finance the SDGs, the important role of MSMEs as catalytic forces for achieving the SDGs cannot be stressed enough. Despite formalization gathering pace, MSMEs and those in the informal sector also continue to struggle to access formal finance. Without the appropriate regulatory reforms, social protection measures, access to formal finance, and capacity building in tools such as financial literacy and numeracy tools to help manage finances effectively, inclusive growth and a decent work environment for those in the sector will remain a challenge. As part of the Development Cooperation Strategy 2020-25, the ILO is forging partnerships that advance policy objectives and coherence within the framework of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) that promote Financing Decent Work. In this panel, the speakers will share global and on-the-ground perspectives and explore steps countries are taking through regulatory reforms, access to finance, and capacity building to ensure sustainable finance and decent work for MSMEs in the informal sector.

Register here!

Speakers:  

  • H.E. Mr. Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the  UN (TBC) 
  • Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief, UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General
  • Ms. Adriana Marina, Founder of Hecho por Nosotros & animaná, Argentina
  • Mr. Amar G. Prabhu, Principal of Don Bosco Industrial Training Institute Kurla, Mumbai, India
  • Ms. Sandie Ejang Elobu, CEO, Western Silk Road, Ltd., Uganda 
  • Ms. Nana Efua Brown-Orleans, Program Lead, Duapa Workspace, Ghana 
  • Ms. Estella Kabagaya Eldradaa, Founder, Mama Children Village, Uganda

Organizers: NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Virginia  Gildersleeve International Fund (DBA Women First International Fund), Salesian Missions Inc, Africa  Development Interchange Network, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of Charity Federation

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org.

Global Negotiations in a Fractured World

The NGO Committee on Financing for Development cordially invites you to join its annual virtual informal working breakfast

 

More information about the Development Cooperation Forum is available here: un.org/development/desa/financing/events/2023-development-cooperation-forum-dcf.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit un-ngocrip.net. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit . For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

Global Negotiations in a Fractured World

The NGO Committee on Financing for Development cordially invites you to join its annual virtual informal working breakfast

 

More information about the Development Cooperation Forum is available here: un.org/development/desa/financing/events/2023-development-cooperation-forum-dcf.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit un-ngocrip.net. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit . For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

[monthly meeting] NGO Committee on Financing for Development

Dear colleagues,

Happy New Year! The NGO Committee on Financing for Development would like to cordially invite you to its first regular monthly meeting of the year, to be held virtually on Tuesday, January 17, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.

Please register in advance for this meeting here!

A zoom link will be emailed to you after registering. We hope to see you then.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org

[monthly meeting] NGO Committee on Financing for Development

Dear colleagues,

Happy New Year! The NGO Committee on Financing for Development would like to cordially invite you to its first regular monthly meeting of the year, to be held virtually on Tuesday, January 17, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.

Please register in advance for this meeting here!

A zoom link will be emailed to you after registering. We hope to see you then.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org

Civil Society FfD List Sign-on Letter: Implementation of UN Resolution on International Tax Cooperation

Photo: https://csoforffd.org/

We invite you all to sign on to the letter, and the deadline for doing so is Friday 16 December 2022. You can find the letter here and the form to sign on is here

__________

To the kind attention of:

Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the United Nations in New York

United Nations Secretariat, Agencies and Programmes

 

X December 2022

 

Subject: Implementation of UNGA Second Committee resolution on promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations (A/C.2/77/L.11/Rev.1)

 

Your Excellencies distinguished representatives of UN Member States,

 

We, the undersigned civil society organisations and trade unions, strongly support and welcome the UNGA resolution on promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the UN (A/C.2/77/L.11/Rev.1). We commend the Africa Group for its excellent leadership on this issue and for finally ensuring implementation of the long-standing demand of developing countries for a UN intergovernmental negotiation process on international tax. We urge all UN Member States to maintain and reinforce the spirit of international cooperation that resulted in the adoption by consensus of this historic resolution. 

 

Furthermore, we are writing to you with a call for all governments to work constructively towards the urgent and efficient implementation of the resolution. This includes: 

 

  1. Supporting a speedy approval in the UNGA Fifth Committee of the required budget allocation for the implementation of the resolution, in line with the related Programme budget implications analysis (A/C.2/77/L.75). The budget requirement, totaling US$ 432,700, was presented to Member States ahead of the adoption of the resolution. We now count on all UN Member States to stand by the consensus agreement reached with the resolution and confirm the allocation of the required resources. We also urge all UN Member States to keep in mind that international tax cooperation is urgently needed, not least to combat tax-related illicit financial flows, which are costing governments hundreds of billions of dollars in lost tax income every year. This must therefore be a matter of high importance and urgency.

 

  1. Supporting strong stakeholder involvement in the consultation process related to the UN Secretary General’s report as mandated by the resolution. We strongly welcome the fact that stakeholder consultation is explicitly included in the text of the resolution, and we stand ready to make our contributions. We, the undersigned civil society organisations and trade unions, bring in-depth knowledge from all regions of the world about the devastating impacts of the failure of international tax cooperation, including the continued bleeding of public resources in the form of illicit financial flows. We also bring concrete and specific proposals for solutions, including for how a future UN Convention on Tax could be designed. 

 

  1. Supporting a strong intergovernmental UN process to strengthen international tax cooperation. Through the resolution, all UN Member States have agreed to “begin intergovernmental discussions in New York at United Nations Headquarters on ways to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation”. We strongly welcome this vital initiative, and stress the importance of moving forward with urgency. As stated in the adopted resolution, combating illicit financial flows is an essential development challenge, and developing countries are particularly susceptible to the negative impact of illicit financial flows. Therefore, we believe that the modalities for the foreseen process must be adopted as a matter of high priority, and this should take place no later than the seventy-eighth session of the UN General Assembly. Furthermore, we would like to stress the importance of ensuring that the modalities provide for a transparent and inclusive member state-led negotiation process with full participation of stakeholders, including civil society. 

 

Despite the fact that international tax rules and standards affect all countries and people of the world, there has until this point been no inclusive international body where all countries were able to participate on an equal footing in the decision-making on international tax matters. This injustice is at the heart of the failure of the international tax system, which has continued to be characterised by injustice, inefficiency, incoherence, unilateral actions and beggar-thy-neighbor policies. All countries have paid a high price for this failure, but the impacts on developing countries have been particularly hard. The UN remains the only truly universal body where all countries participate as equals, and the consensus adoption of the UN resolution, including the decision to begin intergovernmental discussions on international tax matters under the auspices of the UN, constitutes a truly historical shift towards fairness and inclusivity. 

The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the “cost of living crisis”, the fight to increase domestic resource mobilisation and combat illicit financial flows has never been more vital. In 2021, the State of Tax Justice report estimated that countries around the world are losing over US$450 billion per year due to international tax dodging and abuse by multinational corporations and wealthy individuals. Faced with the challenges of financing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and combatting the global environmental crises, it is clear that the international community must take urgent action to strengthen international tax cooperation and stop the immense bleeding of public resources. 

We remain at your disposal if you would like to receive more information or would like to meet to discuss this issue further. 

 

Yours sincerely,

Civil Society Financing for Development Group (www.csoforffd.org)

 

Signatories

 

  1. Civil Society Financing for Development (FfD) Group
  2. Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ): Alliance of five continental tax and fiscal justice networks in Asia (Tax & Fiscal Justice Asia), Africa (Tax Justice Network Africa), Latin America (Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y el Caribe), Europe (Tax Justice-Europe) and North America (Canadians for Tax Fairness & FACT Coalition), collectively representing hundreds of organisations. 
  3. European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad)

 

The New UN Forum on People of African descent: realising the promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action?

The United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum of People of African Descent will hold its very first session from 5 to 8 December 2022 at the Palais des Nations of the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tuesday 29 November 2022, from 1 to 3 PM CET (Zurich time)

(7:00 AM in New York City, USA / 9:30 AM in Curitiba, Brazil / 1 PM Yaoundé, Cameroon / 7 PM in Bangkok, Thailand)

Ahead of this historic session, the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) offers a virtual side event entitled The New UN Forum for People of African descent: realising the promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA)?

Register here!

Some of the issues which will be raised include:

  • What are the lessons learnt since the 2001 Durban World Conference Against Racism? What kind of progress have we witnessed at the UN and other regional fora?
  • What can we hope from this new body? How can churches contribute to its work?
  • Policy efforts to combat systemic racism and racial discrimination
  • Structural racism as the legacy of slavery and colonialism: communities of African descent across the globe live in structural discrimination and structural invisibility, and are scarred by poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities.

Moderator: Rev. Jennifer S. Leath, WCC Central Committee member, African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)

Panellists:

  • Rev. Dr Iva Carruthers, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
  • Dr. Sushi Raj, member of UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
  • Ms Marilia A. Schüller, Methodist Church of Brazil
  • Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, WCC President from North America
  • Rev. Emmanuel Wayi, Cameroon Network for Alternative Solutions (CAMNAS)
  • Rev. Lamont Wells, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit un-ngocrip.net

The New UN Forum on People of African descent: realising the promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action?

The United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum of People of African Descent will hold its very first session from 5 to 8 December 2022 at the Palais des Nations of the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tuesday 29 November 2022, from 1 to 3 PM CET (Zurich time)

(7:00 AM in New York City, USA / 9:30 AM in Curitiba, Brazil / 1 PM Yaoundé, Cameroon / 7 PM in Bangkok, Thailand)

Ahead of this historic session, the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) offers a virtual side event entitled The New UN Forum for People of African descent: realising the promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA)?

Register here!

Some of the issues which will be raised include:

  • What are the lessons learnt since the 2001 Durban World Conference Against Racism? What kind of progress have we witnessed at the UN and other regional fora?
  • What can we hope from this new body? How can churches contribute to its work?
  • Policy efforts to combat systemic racism and racial discrimination
  • Structural racism as the legacy of slavery and colonialism: communities of African descent across the globe live in structural discrimination and structural invisibility, and are scarred by poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities.

Moderator: Rev. Jennifer S. Leath, WCC Central Committee member, African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)

Panellists:

  • Rev. Dr Iva Carruthers, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
  • Dr. Sushi Raj, member of UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
  • Ms Marilia A. Schüller, Methodist Church of Brazil
  • Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, WCC President from North America
  • Rev. Emmanuel Wayi, Cameroon Network for Alternative Solutions (CAMNAS)
  • Rev. Lamont Wells, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit un-ngocrip.net

Interfaith Prayer Service: The impact of HIV among the marginalized within the marginalized

Dear colleagues,

You are kindly invited to an Interfaith Prayer Service for World AIDS Day on December 1, 2022, under the theme “The impact of HIV among the marginalized within the marginalized.”

The service will be held in Tillman Chapel at 777 United Nations Plaza, NY, New York 10017, and will begin at 1:00pm EST.

For those unable to attend in person, the event will be live-streamed at both youtube.com/@hivfaith and facebook.com/ushivfaith.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee for Rare Diseases, please visit ngocommitteerarediseases.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org

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