Key Demands to the Fourth Forum on Aid Effectiveness

Feminists, gender equality and women’s rights activists and organizations mobilizing on the road to the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4)¹ reaffirmed their vision for transformation and offered concrete recommendations for improving the international development cooperation architecture in a set of key demands.

They called on governments and other relevant development actors to consider the following six imperatives:

1. Any new development cooperation framework to be agreed in Busan should be based on human rights, including women’s rights.
2. A new equitable development cooperation system for gender equality and women’s rights should be under the United Nations.
3. Development effectiveness requires democratic ownership by women and meaningful and systematic participation by civil society, especially women’s and feminist organizations.
4. Promote multiple accountability systems for women’s rights and gender equality, improving existing monitoring systems.
5. Financing for Development: Gender Equality and Women’s Rights must go beyond mainstreaming
6. Development cooperation to the countries in situations of fragility and conflict must acknowledge the differential and disproportional impact of armed conflict on the lives and rights of women and girls.

After receiving several inputs and endorsements from civil society organizations - especially women's rights organizations - and in reaction to developments on the road to the HLF-4 in Busan, a new strengthened, updated text of the Women's Key demands for Busan and beyond was released. 

On behalf of the drafting committee of these key demands (composed by WIDE, AWID, FEMNET, APWLD, Coordinadora de la Mujer Bolivia, AAI, Red Activas and the support of many women's rights organizations around the world), we want to thank all of the CSOs that supported these key demands and those that sent their inputs and feedback.