Impact
Media advisory: How can sustainable development be financed in the Global South? Experts from around the world gather in Oslo 6-8 September

How can profit shifting—a bane on development efforts in the Global South—be stopped? What is the potential of social benefit systems to deliver during crises? How are collaborations between researchers and tax authorities benefiting policymaking in sub-Saharan Africa? Researchers and policymakers from around the world join a high-level conference in Oslo and online in September.

The three day conference Revving up revenue for development – the role of domestic resource mobilization is organized on 6–8 September 2023 by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). 

To support inclusive and sustainable economic development in the Global South and provide new knowledge for policy, UNU-WIDER has worked in collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and local partners in the Global South for the past four years on a vast Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM) programme. The conference in Oslo shares the fruits of the collaboration and discusses steps forward in taking full advantage of DRM in developing economies. 

The programme features over 140 speakers, including world-leading economists and journalists like Hanan Morsy (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, online), Alex Cobham (Tax Justice Network) and Gerard Ryle (ICIJ), and top Nordic researchers Annette Alstadsæter (Skatteforsk), Odd-Helge Fjeldstad (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Dan Banik (University of Oslo) and Niels Johannesen (University of Copenhagen). The event also brings to Oslo tax experts and policymakers from sub-Saharan Africa, oil and gas specialists, and representatives of World Bank, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and the EU Tax Observatory. 

Details: Revving up revenue for development – the role of domestic resource mobilization 
When: 6 September 9:00 – 8 September 13:30 
Where: Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Holbergsgate 30, 166, Oslo, Norway and online, register here 

For media registration, inquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Communications Associate Anna Toppari, UNU-WIDER, toppari@wider.unu.edu, tel. +358 40 451 8233

Media highlights  

Wednesday 6 September  

11:00–12:30  
Parallel session |  Oil and gas: Revenue mobilization 
Moderator: Jörgen Levin (Nordic Africa Institute) 
Panelists: Kathryn McPhail, Etienne Romsom (EnergyCC), Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa (Zziyika and Associates), Giovanna Marcolongo (Bocconi University) 

16:00–17:30 
Policy plenary |  Financing sustainable development 
Moderator: Denise Wall (Wallcomms) 
Panelists: Rose Ngugi (KIPPRA), Dan Banik (University of Oslo), Milly Nalukwago (Bank of Uganda), Peter Chowla (UN DESA), Emilia Skrok (World Bank) 

Thursday 7 September 

9:00–10:30 
Policy plenary |  Tax evasion 
Moderator: Arvinn Gadgil (UNDP Oslo Governance Centre) 
Panelists: Gerard Ryle (ICIJ), Alex Cobham (Tax Justice Network), Toril-Iren Pedersen (Norad), Pierre Bachas (ESSEC Business School and EU Tax Observatory) 

Friday 8 September 

11:00–12:10 
Keynote lecture |  The challenge of offshore tax havens  
by Niels Johannesen (University of Copenhagen) 
Chair: Pia Rattenhuber (UNU-WIDER)