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External event

Conference

Social empowerment and sustainability in the private sector

Development aid alone will not enough to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in developing
countries. Globally, foreign aid and investments amount to over $1.4 trillion annually, and yet the
Sustainable Development Goals are still facing a funding gap of $2.5 trillion. Going forward will require a massive injection of capital that the already struggling taxpayer is unlikely willing to shoulder.

Such a funding shortfall can only be sustainably met by the private sector.

We will be looking at the different ways in which the private sector and the financial markets can play a role in sustainable development and will explore CTI Africa’s experience with innovative tools empowering local communities and driving change through public-private partnerships in developing countries.

As the largest development donor in the world, responsible for 65% of the world development aid annually, the European Union is standing at the intersection between public agencies, government partners, international banks, investment funds and private companies willing to invest sustainably in developing countries.

If we are serious about making a difference on a global scale; if the SDGs are to prove anything more than comforting rhetoric; if we mean to offer the billion people still living in abject poverty the dignity of work for a living wage, then we must seize the opportunity before us.

Please find the draft agenda here.

ECDPM’s San Bilal will speak at this event.