At the Diplomatic School, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation organised an academic day of reflection on key issues for the Seville Conference, such as taxation, investment, debt, innovation and international financial architecture, which was opened by the State Secretary for International Cooperation, Eva Granados Galiano.
Granados highlighted that “from the commitment of the Spanish Government to the 2030 Agenda and multilateralism, we are increasing our efforts towards diplomacy and support for the multilateral system. We do this through dialogue, building bridges and generating consensus, because we believe that shared progress and partnerships are the best safeguard for peace and stability”.
Spain has supported the creation of two Committees of Experts as part of its responsibility to create a participatory process on the road to the 4th Conference. The first of these, international in its scope, has been promoted with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and has already made important contributions on the road to Seville, such as the preparation of the report on “Financing a sustainable future: Proposals for a renewed global development finance agenda”.
Additionally, together with the Elcano Royal Institute, the National Committee of Experts has been promoted, resulting in several academic contributions under the title “Spain before the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development” and “Renewing the commitment, redefining the solutions. Proposals for Spain's position on the financing for development agenda”.
At the Diplomatic School, both committees took part in the “4th International Conference on Financing for Development: an academic reflection” round table, which reinforces Spain's interest in inclusiveness, participation and transparency, incorporating academia, civil society, the private sector and non-governmental actors on the road to Seville.
The State Secretary for International Cooperation stressed the importance of academia and knowledge in the negotiations on the road to Seville, as "they offer an objective analysis of the context and informed opinions that allow progress to be made in the search for solutions to complex problems”.
The voice of the youth in the sustainable development and solidarity agenda
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs agenda on the road to the Seville Conference has also focused on the role of youth in today's society. Therefore, on the same day, the Spanish Youth Council and the State Secretary for International Cooperation, through the Directorate-General for Sustainable Development Policy, promoted a working day with young people so that their positions and demands would be taken into account in the prior debates and in the documents to be discussed at the Seville Conference.
Around 5 working groups featuring almost fifty young people representing different youth groups discussed and made proposals on tax justice, fair trade, development cooperation, innovation, technology and digitalisation.
NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION.