This brief argues that taxation policies on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks present a timely and effective strategy for advancing sustainable development while improving public health and well-being. Health taxes not only generate government revenue through higher tax rates but also promote healthier behaviors, leading to improved health outcomes and productivity gains that benefit society as a whole.
Financing for Sustainable Progress to Universal Health Coverage
This brief offers a global overview of health spending and highlights the critical role of health expenditure data in shaping policies to achieve the SDG health targets. It calls on countries and global partners to strengthen health expenditure tracking via health accounts to improve policymaking, enhance transparency, and promote accountability.
This brief highlights the importance of financing social protection to achieve multiple SDGs and realized the right to social protection. It outlines key solutions for financing social protection systems, emphasizing the need to prioritize social protection spending within government budgets and better coordinate and increase international financial support. It provides actionable recommendations, including enhanced spending, progressive and effective taxation, and global financial mechanisms to address persistent coverage gaps and ensure adequate social protection for all.
By grounding policy decisions in solid evidence, countries can better navigate the complexities of tax reforms and ensure that their strategies effectively support the financing of the SDGs. Administrative data and ex-ante policy modelling, such as tax-benefit microsimulation modelling, are indispensable in providing a full picture to policymakers.
To realize their domestic revenue potential, countries need research and technical cooperation. International organizations and bilateral donors provide essential training and resources to strengthen tax administrations and skills for policy analysis in government and academia. Governments in the Global South can progress faster towards the SDGs by partnering with experienced institutions. Technical assistance and research collaboration are key, with hands-on learning from experts.
The global financial system faces critical challenges, particularly for developing countries, including debt crises and financing gaps. Intensified South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC) can offer innovative policy solutions. Recommendations include scaling up debt management strategies, upscaling innovative solutions, strengthening regional development banks, and creating regional infrastructure bonds to pool risks and lower borrowing costs. Expanding contingency financing mechanisms and establishing data-sharing platforms are essential for financial stability.
To make measurable progress in combatting illicit financial flows related to the proceeds of crime Member States should prioritize preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, including in the outcomes of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference and resolutions. Financial crime has direct negative macroeconomic impacts and preventing it is foundational to sustainable development. It can only be addressed through a whole of government approach.
Corruption is a cross-cutting issue, impacting all aspects of the financing for development agenda. Neglecting to adequately address corruption could jeopardize the entire process. By including and investing in proven anti-corruption measures and strengthening international cooperation in the recovery of proceeds of corruption, we can ensure that financial resources are effectively mobilized and safeguarded for development. Corruption is a cross-cutting issue, impacting all aspects of the financing for development agenda.
Scaling up public and private investments in sustainable industrialization is a key to closing the SDG financing gap in developing countries. This UNIDO policy brief discusses how modern SDG-oriented industrial policies, complemented by innovative financing mechanisms and capacity-building, can play an important role in directing financing towards strategic investments and sectors, thus accelerating progress towards the SDGs.