The Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development marked the beginning of discussions on the Financing for Development agenda.

• The Monterrey Consensus was adopted at this first international conference on Financing for Development. It was the first United Nations hosted summit-level meeting to address key financial and related issues on global development.
• The Conference and its preparatory process saw unprecedented cooperation between the United Nations and the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) as part of efforts to promote greater coherence and consistency among the international monetary, trade and financial systems and institutions.
• Monterrey also marked the first time that financing for development debates took place between governments, representatives of civil society and the business sector. These actors moved the discussion beyond a ‘technical’ focus, to look at how to mobilize and channel financial resources to fulfill the internationally agreed development goals of previous UN conferences and summits of the 1990s, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
• The Women’s Caucus noted the historical significance of the conference stating that it had the potential to address structural challenges that continue to hamper development but also raised concern over the effects of increased militarisation and fundamentalism on women, despite the fact that the Monterrey Consensus assumed that the global economic and financial system worked for all.
• Learn more about the six Monterrey themes and the conference follow up mechanisms: Gender Issues and Concerns in Financing for Development by Maria Floro, Nilufer Çagatay, John Willoughby and Korkut Ertürk (INSTRAW, 2004) 

The COVID-19 pandemic showed the world how important essential workers are. We’re talking about cleaners, nurses, paramedics, domestic workers, transport workers, grocery shop workers, among others. Their work is to tend to and guarantee the wellbeing of others, and they make our economies function.

But while they take care of us…

The United Nations (UN) Financing for Development (FfD) process seeks to address different forms of development financing and cooperation. As per the Monterrey Consensus it focuses on six key areas:

• Mobilizing domestic financial resources for development
• Mobilizing international resources for development: foreign direct investment and other private flows
• International trade as an engine for development
• Increasing international financial and technical cooperation for development
• External debt
• Addressing systemic issues: enhancing the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of development. 

We have been contacted by global and regional partners about some ideas for pre-Forum convenings and we will share more information about these ideas soon.

If you plan to organize a meeting before the Forum please let us know!

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Many beautiful things emerged from the 2016 Black Feminisms Forum (BFF) that was organized by an Advisory Group and funded by AWID. Some of the independent organizing that arose from the BFF include Black feminist organizing in Brazil. While we won’t have another BFF this year, we remain committed to sharing some key learnings with anyone interested in continuing work around Black feminist organizing.

There is nothing like being in a shared space, exchanging body energies,... seeing the world and doing something together. Events like the Forum are among the strongest of the global feminist movement.
- Jac s m Kee, Malaysia

We are acutely aware of the practical hurdles and emotional distress associated with international travel, particularly from the Global South. AWID is working with TCEB (the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau) to support Forum participants with acquiring visas. More information about this visa assistance will be available upon registration, including contact information for where and how to apply.