The C20 Group attended UN’s Third International Conference on Financing for Development which was held within the framework of Turkey’s G20 Presidency. Representatives of C20 and T20 working groups were also presented at the meeting which was organised on 13 July 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in partnership with C20, T20 and NeSt. The main topics discussed at the meeting were the development centred priorities of Turkey’s G20 Presidency.

The opening speech of the meeting was delivered by Turkey’s G20 Sherpa Ambassador Ayşe Sinirlioğlu. Following the opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan also took the floor, followed afterwards by C20 Chair and IKV Vice-Chairwoman Zeynep Bodur Okyay.

In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Babacan indicated that Turkey’s priorities within the framework of its G20 presidency are the three “i’s” which are inclusiveness, investment and implementation. Furthermore, he stressed that those priorities shed light to the G20 activities. Moreover, Deputy Prime Minister Babacan also emphasized that one of the key priority of Turkey’s G20 Presidency was to meet the development needs of LIDC countries (low-income developing countries) which are mostly located in Africa. Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Babacan stressed the fundamental importance to increase investments in those countries in order to strengthen their infrastructure. He thus stressed the importance to enhance cooperation with the private sector.

Deputy Prime Minister Babacan further added that one of the most important problems of today’s world is inequality and explained that the G20 has an important role in tackling increasing inequality not only between countries but also within the countries. Deputy Prime Minister Babacan also pointed out that high unemployment rates, especially among youth, continue to constitute a significant source for concern in many countries. Considering the role played by SMEs in terms of creating new job opportunities, the World SME Forum was created together with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). 

Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Babacan explained that the first meeting of G20 Ministers of energy was realised under Turkey’s presidency and also added that within that framework, the W20 working group had been created, bringing together businesswomen.

Following Deputy Prime Minister Babacan’s speech, C20 Chairwoman Zeynep Bodur Okyay took the floor and explained that C20 (Civil-20), which is one of the G20 working groups, preparing recommendations within the aim of fighting against inequality and poverty and contributing to sustainable development goals. It is foreseen that these recommendations will be presented to the G20 leaders. Okyay further added that the C20 was pursuing its activities within the framework of four working groups which are “sustainability”, “governance”, “inclusive growth” and “gender equality”.

In her speech, Okyay referred to the pending issue of inequality and further stressed that sustainability, gender equality and inclusive growth constitute important targets within the framework of the C20 activities. Furthermore, Okyay added that it is also one of the priorities of C20, as envisaged within the framework of the G20 objectives, to tackle inequality and to reduce the income inequality between the 10% richest and the 40% poorest within societies. Okyay also indicated that inequality is not only limited to income inequality but comprises also access to basic services, education, work opportunities and political participation and thus underlining the multi-dimensional aspect of the inequality. Moreover, C20 Chairwoman Okyay added that beyond the fact that inequality is a moral issue, it has adverse effects upon economic growth and on the integration of societies. She explained that inequality could harm democratic values, cause the increase of corruption and finally create further tensions within societies.

Moreover, C20 Chairwoman Okyay also pointed out to the importance of encouraging the participation of civil society organisations in all decision-taking mechanisms and of having G20 recognize C20 as a stakeholder in debates on inclusive growth and granting C20 representation at the G20 Development Working Group. Okyay stressed the vital role that civil society organisations could play in the determination of policies as regards to social and economic issues. She further added that it would be helpful in better representing the most vulnerable groups.  Finally, Okyay explained her belief that the priorities which have been designed by C20, through its different socio-economic groups would contribute positively in increasing the level of welfare among people.

Following the opening speeches, a panel constituted of the following speakers was held:

Amar Bhattacharya - Brooking Institute, Senior Fellow at the Global Economy and Development Program

Neissan Besharati – Project Manager at the South Africa Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)

Dr. Fanwell K. Bokosi – Executive Director of AFRODAD (African Forum and Network on Debt and Development)

Ussal Şahbaz - TEPAV, Director of G20 Studies Centre

The main challenges encountered by developing countries were mainly discussed during the panel. A special emphasis was given to investments, food security, access to main services, quality growth, the effective use of resources, BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting), fossil fuel subventions, infrastructure investments, reform of the financial sector and information sharing. To ensure the inclusiveness nature of the G20 platform, the importance to reach out better to non-G20 Member States has been highlighted. Within this framework, it has been suggested that African countries should be represented in a more effectively.  Discussions regarding G20’s decision making and implementation capacity were also held during the panel.

IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas and IKV Deputy Secretary General and C20 Sherpa Melih Özsöz, Meryem Aslan from the C20 Secretariat, C20 Communications Officer Hande Sarantopoulos, Transparency International Turkey Chairwoman Oya Özarslan and WWF Turkey Executive Director Tolga Baştak also attended this meeting.