tax justice

[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

CACCI Policy Advocacy webinar on ESG in South-East Asia and Green-Digital Transformation

CACCI invites you to participate in the CACCI Policy Advocacy webinar to be held on Wednesday, December 14at 3:00PM Taipei Time. The 50-minute session will be moderated by Mangesh Lal Shrestha, YEGAP President.

The two relevant policy issues to be discussed are:

(1) ESG in South-East Asia: Policy Considerations for Improving Performance Across Sustainability and Social Parameters in the EV and Textile Industries by Mr. Arjun Goswani, Director, Public Policy, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

(2) How to Adjust to the Green-Digital Transformation: A Primer for CACCI by Prof. Dr. Güven Sak, Economic Policy Research of Turkey (TEPAV)

The two Executive Summaries can be downloaded HERE for your perusal. The two presentations will be followed by Q&A section. The session will conclude with Mr. Mangesh Lal Shrestha’s Closing Remarks. Your participation is free of charge. Moreover, we encourage you to share this invitation with your colleagues.

Please register HERE.

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the webinar.

Sincerely yours,

David Hsu

Director-General, Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.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 Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. 

CACCI Policy Advocacy webinar on ESG in South-East Asia and Green-Digital Transformation

CACCI invites you to participate in the CACCI Policy Advocacy webinar to be held on Wednesday, December 14at 3:00PM Taipei Time. The 50-minute session will be moderated by Mangesh Lal Shrestha, YEGAP President.

The two relevant policy issues to be discussed are:

(1) ESG in South-East Asia: Policy Considerations for Improving Performance Across Sustainability and Social Parameters in the EV and Textile Industries by Mr. Arjun Goswani, Director, Public Policy, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

(2) How to Adjust to the Green-Digital Transformation: A Primer for CACCI by Prof. Dr. Güven Sak, Economic Policy Research of Turkey (TEPAV)

The two Executive Summaries can be downloaded HERE for your perusal. The two presentations will be followed by Q&A section. The session will conclude with Mr. Mangesh Lal Shrestha’s Closing Remarks. Your participation is free of charge. Moreover, we encourage you to share this invitation with your colleagues.

Please register HERE.

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the webinar.

Sincerely yours,

David Hsu

Director-General, Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.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 Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. 

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)

 

Eliminating Extreme Poverty and Hunger Amongst Older Persons & People with Disabilities by Implementing a Supplementary Income Program: Evidence from Ethiopia

The NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity (COIGENS) proudly invites you to the first meeting in their new series on Social Trauma and Intergenerational Solutions! This inaugural meeting will focus on:

Eliminating Extreme Poverty and Hunger Amongst Older Persons and People with Disabilities by Implementing a Supplementary Income Program: Evidence from a Program in Lalibela, Ethiopia

To attend this exciting virtual event, please contact COIGENS Program Coordinator Kevin Brabazon at NGOcommittee.COIGENS@gmail.com to receive the Zoom access link, which will be sent out prior to the meeting.

About Nov. 11 Meeting:

This first meeting will focus on the traumas of extreme poverty and hunger and will offer a simple approach to eliminating both traumas. The social protection program that is often found in social security systems (in the USA it is referred to as Supplementary Security Income or SSI). This meeting will introduce you to a demonstration project in Lalibela, Ethiopia that is sponsored by COIGENS. The Mayor of Lalibela will introduce five recipients of the supplementary income part of the Lalibela Project and will interview them to show how their lives have changed since joining the program. This will be a live feed so attendees will be able to ask questions in the last 30 minutes of the program.

In the Lalibela Project, Supplementary Income is provided to eligible participants on a monthly basis. The income is set above the Extreme Poverty level and is intended to show the government and international observers that this “social trauma” could be eliminated on a national level by implementing a 1% income tax.

Program:

  • Keynote Speech: Dr. Kurt Johnson, Pioneer in the Knowledge Field of Science and  Religion Interface, “The Three Generational Family Model at the Interface of Social and Economic Sciences and Religion
  • Program Presentation: Abebe Fentaw Sisay, Director of the Lalibela Project, “Honor Your Father and Mother and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself as a Basis for Social Development
  • Mayor Tesefa Habte, Mayor of Lablibela, will introduce and interview five of the elders who have been lifted out of extreme poverty by the supplementary income program in the Lalibela Project

Please note: You do not need to be a member of COIGENS to join the Zoom meeting though we are offering free membership extended from December to run through April of next year. Any time you wish to join, let us know and we will add you to the list of members. If you prefer to follow our meetings as a non-member, we welcome that too. We are interested in building a community of common interests in which we can share ideas and shape the way the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be realized.  –  Dr. Susanne Seperson, Acting Chair, COIGENS; United Nations Representative, Generations United

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity 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 Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Family/NY, please visit ngofamilyny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Family/Vienna, please visit viennafamilycommittee.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 on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org

Eliminating Extreme Poverty and Hunger Amongst Older Persons & People with Disabilities by Implementing a Supplementary Income Program: Evidence from Ethiopia

The NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity (COIGENS) proudly invites you to the first meeting in their new series on Social Trauma and Intergenerational Solutions! This inaugural meeting will focus on:

Eliminating Extreme Poverty and Hunger Amongst Older Persons and People with Disabilities by Implementing a Supplementary Income Program: Evidence from a Program in Lalibela, Ethiopia

To attend this exciting virtual event, please contact COIGENS Program Coordinator Kevin Brabazon at NGOcommittee.COIGENS@gmail.com to receive the Zoom access link, which will be sent out prior to the meeting.

About Nov. 11 Meeting:

This first meeting will focus on the traumas of extreme poverty and hunger and will offer a simple approach to eliminating both traumas. The social protection program that is often found in social security systems (in the USA it is referred to as Supplementary Security Income or SSI). This meeting will introduce you to a demonstration project in Lalibela, Ethiopia that is sponsored by COIGENS. The Mayor of Lalibela will introduce five recipients of the supplementary income part of the Lalibela Project and will interview them to show how their lives have changed since joining the program. This will be a live feed so attendees will be able to ask questions in the last 30 minutes of the program.

In the Lalibela Project, Supplementary Income is provided to eligible participants on a monthly basis. The income is set above the Extreme Poverty level and is intended to show the government and international observers that this “social trauma” could be eliminated on a national level by implementing a 1% income tax.

Program:

  • Keynote Speech: Dr. Kurt Johnson, Pioneer in the Knowledge Field of Science and  Religion Interface, “The Three Generational Family Model at the Interface of Social and Economic Sciences and Religion
  • Program Presentation: Abebe Fentaw Sisay, Director of the Lalibela Project, “Honor Your Father and Mother and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself as a Basis for Social Development
  • Mayor Tesefa Habte, Mayor of Lablibela, will introduce and interview five of the elders who have been lifted out of extreme poverty by the supplementary income program in the Lalibela Project

Please note: You do not need to be a member of COIGENS to join the Zoom meeting though we are offering free membership extended from December to run through April of next year. Any time you wish to join, let us know and we will add you to the list of members. If you prefer to follow our meetings as a non-member, we welcome that too. We are interested in building a community of common interests in which we can share ideas and shape the way the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be realized.  –  Dr. Susanne Seperson, Acting Chair, COIGENS; United Nations Representative, Generations United

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity 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 Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Family/NY, please visit ngofamilyny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Family/Vienna, please visit viennafamilycommittee.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 on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org

Financing for Development in a Fractured World

Join the NGO Committee on Financing for Development for an important look at FfD in a contemporary context, knowing that the repercussions of COVID-19 and climate destruction are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

Date and Time: 8:30 am – 10:00 am EST on November 9, 2022

Please register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuduutpjguGtENOtCZCf-EtA7AD0azr_Wu

Objective: The General Assembly will decide during the current session whether it is ready to convoke the fourth Financing for Development (FfD) conference in the next few years. The global economy is in a difficult situation, especially for development, underlining the need for more effective international economic and financial cooperation. While it is not obvious that the international community as a whole is currently ready to effectively address the pending issues, it is time to start to try to build a new global consensus on financing for sustainable development.

The objective of the NGO Committee on FfD in organizing this workshop is to build the capacity of NGOs/CSOs that focus on a range of economic, social, and environmental issues to engage effectively in the FfD processes and to share updates on the current FfD discussions. While the session is geared towards NGOs/CSOs already engaged with UN processes, it is open to anyone interested in gaining an understanding of FfD. Speakers will provide a perspective of the FfD processes, clarify the larger impact of FfD-related decisions on the achievements of the 2030 agenda, and share insights on current developments and areas that require urgent action and strengthened advocacy efforts.

Read the full concept note here!

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 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 facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Financing for Development in a Fractured World

Join the NGO Committee on Financing for Development for an important look at FfD in a contemporary context, knowing that the repercussions of COVID-19 and climate destruction are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

Date and Time: 8:30 am – 10:00 am EST on November 9, 2022

Please register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuduutpjguGtENOtCZCf-EtA7AD0azr_Wu

Objective: The General Assembly will decide during the current session whether it is ready to convoke the fourth Financing for Development (FfD) conference in the next few years. The global economy is in a difficult situation, especially for development, underlining the need for more effective international economic and financial cooperation. While it is not obvious that the international community as a whole is currently ready to effectively address the pending issues, it is time to start to try to build a new global consensus on financing for sustainable development.

The objective of the NGO Committee on FfD in organizing this workshop is to build the capacity of NGOs/CSOs that focus on a range of economic, social, and environmental issues to engage effectively in the FfD processes and to share updates on the current FfD discussions. While the session is geared towards NGOs/CSOs already engaged with UN processes, it is open to anyone interested in gaining an understanding of FfD. Speakers will provide a perspective of the FfD processes, clarify the larger impact of FfD-related decisions on the achievements of the 2030 agenda, and share insights on current developments and areas that require urgent action and strengthened advocacy efforts.

Read the full concept note here!

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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 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 facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

NGO Committee on Financing for Development regular monthly meeting

Join the NGO Committee on Financing for Development for their regular monthly meeting on November 4 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm EST at the Baha’i International Community Office at 866 UN Plaza, with Zoom access capabilities for those who are unable to attend in person. As the conference room can accommodate up to 25 participants, in-person attendance will be on a first come first served basis for those who have registered at this link by 4:00 pm October 31.

To attend virtually, kindly register to receive the Zoom access link here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctdu6urD4qGdG5uqTnKvZAqzQHuY_QnaQq
 
The agenda, minutes of the last meeting, and resource material are being uploaded to the meeting folder here.
 
Note to members:
Save the Date for upcoming FfD workshop! The Committee’s annual workshop on FfD, titled “Financing for Development Post COVID” will be held on November 9 from 8:30 am – 10:00 am via Zoom. This workshop is being organized by the Executive Committee.  Interested participants are encouraged to register here.

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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.

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