CANCELLED: Global partnerships for sustainable development

In accordance with the latest UN guidelines we regret to inform the 2020 WIDER Development Conference has been cancelled.

In the meantime we are reorienting our work to focus on the implications of COVID-19 and the Global South. Find the latest materials from this work here.

We have 10 years to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is a clear need for concerted action at global, regional, and local levels if we are to achieve the goals. But what action?

The 2020 WIDER Development Conference in Helsinki, Finland, aims to take stock of global progress towards achieving the SDG 17 ‘Global Partnerships for the Goals,’ share knowledge on success stories and good practices, identify main challenges, and suggest ways forward.

The conference will bring together academics, policy practitioners, development professionals and international organizations to discuss research findings and policy solutions to address the five big issues surrounding SDG 17:

1. Finance: How to foster domestic resource mobilization (including domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection), official development assistance, and long-term debt sustainability? What is the role of the private sector in financing the large investment needs behind Agenda 2030?
2. Trade: How to promote a rules-based and equitable multilateral trading system, collectively reduce trade tensions, and support developing countries to increase and diversify their exports?
3. Technology: How to bridge the digital divide? How can technology benefit the world’s poorest and contribute to Agenda 2030?
4. Macroeconomic stability: How to improve domestic capacity for managing currency and price fluctuations, debt burdens and inflation, and reduce the vulnerability to external shocks? What are the measures need to improve the working of the international monetary system and enhance macroeconomic policy cooperation?
5. Data for development: How to collect high-quality, timely and reliable data and how to measure progress on sustainable development?

The focus of this conference will be to share evidence on the policies, partnerships and coordinated actions that support sustainable development in countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

There is a lot of ground to cover in the years before 2030 to achieve the SDGs, with the world more interconnected than ever, only global approaches and partnerships will make moving ahead possible.

More information, and registration coming soon.