UNB, Dhaka :World leaders will gather at the third international conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in Addis Ababa from Monday to launch a renewed and strengthened global partnership for financing people-centered sustainable development.The Financing for Development conference will send a signal to business leaders that the time for investing in people and the environment is now, according to documents received from the United Nations Information Centre in Dhaka.Organisers think the conference that will continue till July 16 presents a unique opportunity to secure the resources that need for the wellbeing of all people and the health of the planet. The Addis Ababa conference is all about mobilizing the means to make the difference in people’s lives.In Addis, governments, civil society and businesses will forge partnerships to align people-centred public and private investments for greatest impact.The conference will look at all sources of finance for sustainable development to ensure that resources go where they are needed most to promote economic prosperity and improve health, education and employment opportunities while protecting the environment.State Minister for Finance MA Mannan is scheduled to lead Bangladesh delegation in the conference to be held at the Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), UN Conference Centre, Addis Ababa (UNCC-AA), Ethiopia. The outcome of the conference will be an important milestone on the road towards the adoption of a new sustainable development agenda in September and a universal climate change agreement at the Paris Climate Conference in December, the documents read. The conference will lay the groundwork for the world to invest ahead, for people and planet.In addition to the official programme, including plenary meetings and roundtable discussions, the conference will feature international civil society and business forums, as well as more than 200 side events. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Conference Secretary-General Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States Gyan Chandra Acharya, UN Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning Amina J Mohammed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn, President, World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevêdo, Unctad Secretrary General Mukhisa Kituyi and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark will attend it. More than 50 heads of State and Government, 100 Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation and more than 1,000 high-level representatives from civil society and the business sector will also attend. Decisions taken in 2015 can set the world on a course of action to end poverty, promote prosperity and protect the planet. The Conference on Financing for Development is centred on mobilizing the means to make a difference in people’s lives.
