Inputs to the Outcome Document

This briefing is part of the Financing Policy Brief Series developed by PRI and other members of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development. The objective of the briefing is to inform the substantive preparations for the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).

This briefing addresses two action areas of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (the outcome document of FfD3): 1) domestic and international private business and finance; and 2) systemic issues. It is based on PRI’s 2023 policy white paper, Investing for the Economic Transition: The Case for Whole-of-Government Policy Reform

This policy brief explores the urgent need to close the global education financing gap to meet SDG4 targets by 2030. With a shortfall of US$97 billion annually in low- and lower-middle-income countries, the lack of adequate public funding threatens broader development goals like poverty reduction, social stability, and climate action. The brief calls for long-term sustainable financing solutions, including increasing domestic resource mobilization, enhancing international cooperation, addressing debt distress, and further scaling innovative financing, to ensure equitable access to quality education and drive long-term socioeconomic progress.

Culture is now recognized as a key driver of inclusive sustainable development, as recently evidenced in the UN Pact for the Future. However, culture remains sidelined in discussions and policies on the financing of sustainable development. A more systematic integration of culture into financing frameworks – spanning domestic public resources, private sector investments, development cooperation and trade – is fundamental for accelerating the implementation of 2030 Agenda and for advancing sustainable development in the post-2030 agenda, including through culture as a stand-alone goal.