The United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) will participate in the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla, Spain. The event, taking place at the Conference and Exhibition Centre of Seville, will gather high-level government officials, civil society actors, academics, and UN partners to address new and emerging issues, the urgent need to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals, and to support the reform of the international financial architecture.
As part of our engagement, UNU-IIGH will join two on-site side events focusing on the intersections of health, human rights, and global financing systems.
Side Event | Financing Social Protection and Health: Domestic Resources and Global Justice
1 July 2025 | 16:30–18:00 CEST | Room 14, Conference Venue
This session will discuss how the international tax system, debt architecture, and trade regimes affect the realisation of the human right to social protection and health. Panellists will identify essential reforms required to ensure universal access to these fundamental rights, as well as advancing inclusive economic development and stability.
Speakers:
- Shahra Razavi (ILO) will address universal social protection and health as essential premises for resilient, equitable, inclusive and sustainable societies.
- David McCoy (UNU-IIGH) will explore the essential role of tax policies and systems reform in improving health outcomes and strengthening good governance.
- Liz Nelson (Tax Justice Network) will examine international tax systems failures and explore potential pathways for reform needed to empower domestic financing for health and social protection in low-income countries.
- Jayati Ghosh (University of Amherst) will delve into the consequences of unsustainable public debt on public investment in social protection and health, discussing possible coordinated international reforms to address these challenges.
- Jane Nalunga (SEATINI) will investigate needed improvements in international trade governance to create an enabling environment for the realization of universal access to social protection and health.
Suggested Reading: Tax systems and policy: Crucial for good health and good governance - This briefing paper highlights the critical role of tax policies and systems in advancing equitable and improved health. It explains how tax policies and systems perform five important functions that act as the bedrock for any flourishing society.
Side Event | Financing and the Right to Development: Human Rights Challenges of Private Finance for Sustainable Development
3 July 2025 | 08:30–10:00 CEST | Room 14, Conference Venue
This side event is a critical dialogue on the role and limits of private finance in delivering on states’ right to development obligations. An expert panel will unpack the increasingly complex financing for development architecture and explore the challenges it poses for realising the right to development, including the risks of aid fragmentation, accumulation of unsustainable debt burden, exposure to financial instability and weak corporate accountability of private actors. The panel will also consider solutions and proposals for ways forward in this challenging landscape.
Speakers:
- Barbara Adams (Global Policy Forum)
- David McCoy (UNU-IIGH)
- Bhumika Muchhala (Third World Network)
- Kamal Ramburuth (Institute for Economic Justice)
- Celine Tan (University of Warwick)
- Maria Ron Balsera (Centre for Economic and Social Rights)
Suggested Reading: Private Financial Actors and Financialisation in Global Health - This briefing paper responds to the expansion of private finance in global health, demystifying the process of financialisation and offering a vital counter-perspective to an increasingly pervasive but questionable narrative that positions private finance as necessary to the future of global health.
Relevant Reading to Both Events:
Corporate accountability in global health governance? A case study of the Access to Medicine Index - This briefing paper presents a description and critique of AtMI, including its history, governance, funding, implementation, and impact. e scores are then combined to produce a composite score that is used to produce a ranking of overall performance.
More details on the conference programme and side events: https://go.unu.edu/jRc0G
