DWG G20 Chairman Prioritize Blended Finance for Developing Countries’ SDG Funding Constraints
Prime News - Thu, 11 August 2022
The G20 Development Working Group (DWG) Chairman Scenaider C. H. Siahaan emphasized the urgency of prioritizing blended finance within the 3rd G20 DWG’s deliverable agreements, as the mechanism can mitigate the barriers of developing countries in mobilizing funds to fulfill their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. For the G20, especially for the 2022 G20 Indonesia Presidency, one of the priority development commitments is to provide innovative forms of financing to developing countries to achieve SDG’s targets and indicators.
One of the agreed forms is blended financing, which attract private sector contribution to fund targeted sectors and also uses philanthropic and donor funding to lessen the risk of potential investments. “The decision to focus on blended finance was based on the concerns that developing countries are facing funding constraints to fulfill SDG-aligned projects. We know that there are available financial resources, but more is needed. Scenaider said at the 3rd G20 DWG Meeting in Bali, Thursday (11/8).
The main objective of the 3rd G20 DWG Meeting is to finalize several deliverables and agreements, including the G20 Principles to Scale-Up Blended Finance in Developing Countries, Including Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). “There are many developing countries that have barriers and challenges in mobilizing these funds to fulfill these projects. Because of this, we want to make their constraints and barriers visible enough for the international community to see so that we can set up a collective action to address these constraints together,” Scenaider added.
In preparation for the upcoming G20 Ministerial Meetings in Belitung on 7-9 September 2022, the 3rd G20 DWG Meeting also finalize other three deliverables, namely the G20 Roadmap for Stronger Recovery and Resilience in Developing Countries, LDCs and SIDS, the G20 Ministerial Vision Statement: Multilateralism for SDGs Decade of Action, and the 2022 G20 Bali Update.
The 2022 G20 Indonesia Presidency reinvigorated multilateralism that underpins inclusiveness, equity and equality, social justice and prosperity, solidarity through partnerships, transparency, effectiveness, sustainability, and adaptability towards national circumstances and capacities. Those principles will help the G20 countries materialize the action plans to accelerate economic recovery and resilience efforts.
About the Development Working Group
The Development Working Group (DWG) is one of the working groups of the 2022 G20 Indonesia Presidency which aims to discuss development issues in developing countries, least developed countries (LDC) and island countries (Small Island Developing States/SIDS). The DWG was first formed at the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, Canada with the main task of discussing the G20 priority agendas in the field of development. The DWG identifies development challenges, and then formulates the best solutions to promote economic growth in developing and low-income countries as an effort to mitigate the global financial crisis.
During the Indonesian Presidency of the G20 in 2022, the DWG raised four priority issues, namely:
1) Strengthening Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic and Ensuring Resilience in Developing Countries, Underdeveloped Countries, and Archipelagic Countries through the three key pillars of MSMEs, Adaptive Social Protection, and Low-Carbon Green and Blue Economies.
2) Increasing Private and Blended Financing in Funding Sustainable Development in Developing Countries, Underdeveloped Countries, and Archipelagic Countries
3) Renewing the Global Commitment to Multilateralism for Sustainable Development
4) Coordinating the progress of achieving the SDGs in the G20 and updating the G20 Development Commitments.
The DWG’s focal points, organized by the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, are the 1st DWG Meeting in Jakarta (24-25 February) and the 2nd DWG Meeting in Yogyakarta (24-25 May). A third DWG meeting will be held in Bali between 10 August to 12 August 2022. The G20 Indonesia Presidency will also hold the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting in Belitung on 7-9 September 2022.