Finn Tarp presents at the launch of the Finnish Government Report on Development Policy

Finn Tarp, Director of UNU-WIDER gave a presentation at the launch of the Finnish Government Report on Development Policy for 2016-2019 organized by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, on 12 February 2016 in Helsinki. The event brought together Finnish policy-makers, academic experts, and civil society representatives to comment and discuss the guidelines of the new Finnish development policy programme.

Emphasis on consolidating the economic base in developing countries

At the event, Finnish Minister for foreign trade and development, Lenita Toivakka, presented Finland’s new Report on Development Policy titled ‘One world, one future: toward sustainable development’ which outlines the development policy programme for 2016-2019. The overall objective of the programme is the eradication of extreme poverty and inequality and it is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted in September 2015 by the countries of the UN General Assembly.

The reduction of poverty and inequality is one of the main objectives of the new development policy. These priorities can not be achieved without reinforcing the economies of developing countries so that they can generate more jobs, better livelihoods and well-being. The Finnish Parliament will consider the report during the spring.

Finn Tarp: ‘Scaling up indispensable for success of the 2030 SDG agenda’

Finn Tarp presented on UNU-WIDER’s extensive development and economics under the current 'Transformation, Inclusion, and Sustainability' work programme and discussed the findings of the institute’s recent research projects. He discussed a set of  seven key concerns emerging from a number of the Institute's research on poverty, foreign aid, gender issues, taxation and social protection, climate change, and national data systems.

The presentation concluded with three critical areas for the international development community to pursue work on; creating a conducive policy environment and effective public finance and social systems; mobilizing the necessary resources –private and public –for expanding investments in infrastructure, agriculture and action on climate change and sustainable energy production; and pursuing further research that helps to understand and generate new ideas about global changes, crises, and unexpected future challenges. Furthermore Tarp suggested that it will be indespensible for success to scale up development efforts in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The presentation was accompanied by a panel discussion with speakers from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Finnish Development Policy Committee, the Finnish umbrella organization for civil society organizations (KEPA), Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK, and the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Finnfund.