Inputs to the Outcome Document

Remittances and diaspora investments are a major source of external private finance crucial for achieving SDGs, but their full potential remains largely untapped. Member States should acknowledge their potential and renew and expand their commitments to maximize their impact to development, ensuring access to formal, affordable, and secure remittance services through supportive regulations, improved payment systems, digital solutions, and promoting financial inclusion for both migrants and their families back home. At the same time, Member States should facilitate and support diaspora investments to homeland SMEs by creating diaspora engagement strategies and supportive environments, capacity-building for diaspora members, involve them in policy development, remove investment barriers, and provide adequate mechanisms to crowd in their investment.

The brief highlights the need for Member States to put gender equality at the forefront of macroeconomic and fiscal policies. The brief argues while advanced economies have implemented policies to accelerate economic recovery, developing nations lack adequate financing to do the same, leaving women in precarious positions. Today, many countries are implementing austerity measures that limit government spending on essential services, further harming women's economic security. The brief also highlights that high debt levels in developing countries continue to divert resources away from social programs and initiatives that promote gender equality, hindering progress and potentially reversing gains. Overall, the brief advocates for a comprehensive approach to financing gender equality, recognizing the potential of various policy levers and the need for gender-responsive policymaking, including accelerating the reforms of the international financial architecture.

Demographic change is one of the most powerful yet largely neglected factors shaping financing for sustainable development. It not only has implications for the expenditure side of public and private budgets, but also for the revenue side, and thus on budgets and debt. This brief makes the case for systematic consideration of demographic change and other megatrends in planning and budget processes of countries.