OECD at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4)

The United Nations’ 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), taking place in Sevilla, Spain from June 30 to July 3, brings together governments and international organisations, as well as financial institutions, businesses and civil society to discuss urgently needed reforms to finance global development needs.

Building on the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda and commitments made in the 2024 Pact for the Future, and emphasising the role of international co-operation, FFD4 aspires to build a renewed global financing framework that will unlock greater volumes of capital for development at a lower cost under reforms to the international financial architecture.

As a longstanding partner in the international development finance system, the OECD is an active participant in FFD4. OECD data, analysis and performance indicators are informing FFD4 discussions, underlining transparency, accountability and understanding of the development finance landscape. Drawing on its multidisciplinary expertise, the Organisation is contributing to 29 of the Sevilla Platform for Action initiatives and participating in over 40 side events on issues ranging from Tax Inspectors without Borders and domestic resource mobilisation, to quality FDI, and effective development cooperation.

New OECD work for FFD4 includes a set of action-oriented recommendations aimed at tackling barriers to mobilising private finance for development at the scale needed today. Mobilising private finance for development, climate and biodiversity in emerging markets and developing economies: Financing our futures, sets out how the OECD can work with others to support greater mobilisation of private finance for development by: building trust and lowering perception of risk by improving the quality and availability of data; embedding private finance mobilisation at the core of development finance; tackling regulatory barriers in advanced, emerging and developing economies; and helping low-income countries to develop local capital markets.

New OECD projections for official development assistance (ODA) flows through 2027, with analysis by region and sector, were also released just ahead of FFD4.

In view of the importance of the development agenda for the OECD, the OECD Delegation to Sevilla is led by Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.

The OECD is contributing to 29 SPA initiatives in areas ranging from capacity building in taxation and sovereign debt management to driving private infrastructure investment and philanthropy. Some examples include:

• Beyond GDP Global Alliance

This alliance, led by the government of Spain with UN regional entities and other international bodies, will serve as a platform to respond to the need to develop a framework to measure progress on sustainable development that goes beyond GDP to reflect social progress more broadly. It will complement the UN’s High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP.

• Blue Dot Network: Attracting private infrastructure investment through trusted certification

This initiative seeks to close the infrastructure financing gap by scaling up a proven, standards-based model for certifying sustainable infrastructure. By accelerating alignment with international quality standards and expanding a pipeline of investment-ready projects, the BDN can unlock private capital and deliver real impact across the infrastructure-related SDGs.

• Building a Better Policy Environment for SMEs in the Sahel and West Africa

This is the first SME Policy Index developed in Africa, establishing a new regional benchmark for evidence-based policymaking in support of small and medium business growth.

• Capacity Building for Financing Sustainable Development

This initiative is the first to propose an integrated offer of capacity building and training to government officials to build capacity in taxation, sovereign debt management and investment in developing regions, including strengthening the integrity of tax administrations and public institutions.

• Localising finance to drive systemic impact for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda

This Initiative will: (1) provide knowledge and tools to help maximise local impacts of development finance; (2) strengthen capacities, especially at the local and regional level, and build partnerships for action and systemic change; (3) scale up successful local financing solutions that can be replicated; and (4) promote robust, multilevel indicator systems, and standards of transparency and accountability.

• Scaling up Philanthropy

This initiative is part of broader efforts at the OECD to break silos between international and domestic foundations, development agencies, multilateral and regional development banks in order to foster mutual learning, track funding and unlock new co-funding and de-risking opportunities.

• Tax Inspectors Without Borders 2.0

TIWB 2.0 will expand the OECD-UNDP initiative launched at FFD3 in Addis Ababa and enhance the programme’s hand-on support to tax administrations across developing countries to help meet the challenges of the digital transition and support efforts to fight illicit financial flows. Read more on TIWB.

• The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of donor countries has also contributed to the Sevilla Platform for Action with initiatives on strengthening the process for graduation from eligibility for Official Development Assistance (ODA) and on private sector mobilisation. Read more about the DAC.

• Cuts in official development assistance: OECD projections for 2025 and the near term

This short report, published on 26 June 2025, outlines new OECD projections for ODA flows through 2027 and provides analysis on which regions and which sectors – such as health, education and humanitarian aid – would likely be impacted by funding cuts. Download the report

• Tax Co-operation for Development: Progress Report on 2024

This report provides an overview of the OECD’s tax and development work and presents the results achieved in this area in 2024, including new programme launches under the OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative, and work in support of tax transparency and exchange of information. The report also summarises a recently concluded independent evaluation of the tax and development work and outlines initial responses to its recommendations and key priorities for 2025. Download the report

• Mobilising private finance for development, climate and biodiversity in emerging markets and developing economies: Financing our futures

This new paper discusses ways to overcome some of the critical barriers holding back private investment flows into emerging and developing economies, including by addressing data gaps that lead to inflated perceptions of risk, greater use of ODA to mobilise private finance, and tackling regulatory barriers in advanced, emerging and developing economies. Download the report

As part of this work, the OECD will be launching a new Dashboard on mobilisation of private finance for development.  This dashboard showcases the OECD’s comprehensive, comparable data on amounts mobilised from the private sector by official development finance interventions which allows users to track progress, explore trends across key socio-economic sectors and by provider and beneficiary country. Access the dashboard.

• Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2025

A decade after the international community pledged in Addis Ababa to ramp up development finance, the gulf between the amounts mobilised by developing and emerging economies and the trillions they need to meet their development goals has grown steadily. Without significant reform, the gap could swell to USD 6.4 trillion by 2030, according to this recent report. Read more on the Global Outlook. 

• Development co-operation profiles

Covering the 33 providers of official development assistance from the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, and more than 40 other countries or private bodies providing aid or philanthropy, these profiles look at where aid flows to and from, what it funds and how it is managed. See the profiles by country.

• FDI qualities indicators: Visualisation platform

This platform showcases essential data that gauges the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) in countries around the world across key policy areas including the low carbon transition, innovation, gender equality, jobs and skills and the digital transformation. This new release also features a new country tab showing data by impact area and offering a benchmarking functionality. Access the platform

Read more on OECD work on international development