TOSSD 2022 data builds indicator 17.3.1: Additional financial resources mobilised for developing countries from multiple sources

 

The brand-new International Forum on TOSSD (IFT, an independent entity hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are the co-custodians of the indicator 17.3.1, with the latter being responsible for data on South-South cooperation (SSC) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Thanks to the joint efforts of the Global South, there is now a global, voluntary Conceptual Framework to measure SSC with its rich modalities of exchange and mutual solidarity. The United Nations Statistical Commission invited Southern countries to work closely with UNCTAD, co-custodian of the SDG indicator 17.3.1. In a global survey conducted by UNCTAD, 60 out of 80 responding Southern countries requested immediate support to start collecting these data to fulfil their reporting obligations to the SDG indicator.

The IFT Secretariat has collected 2022 data from nearly 120 bilateral and multilateral providers. Data submitted to TOSSD by 19 providers were excluded from the indicator as they relate to South-South cooperation (as noted above, UNCTAD is responsible for global reporting on SSC). The data are available, however, at the activity level in the TOSSD database. These providers are Azerbaijan, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Palestinian International Co-operation Agency, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay.

Regarding TOSSD data submitted to SDG indicator 17.3.1, the coverage has expanded, reaching 101 reporters, seven more than in 2021. The official resources amounted to USD 276.6 billion, private finance mobilised to USD 55.3 billion and private grants for development USD 10.2 billion. Sustainable development grants (both official and private) decreased in 2022, compared to 2021. Sustainable concessional development loans increased by 6%, while non-concessional loans decreased. Mobilised private finance increased by 21%, compensating for the decrease in 2021.

International debates on financing for development place a lot of emphasis on the mobilisation of private finance for sustainable development. In 2019-22, private finance mobilised by official development finance interventions mainly targeted the banking, industry and energy sectors, thus contributing to the SDGs on affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth as well as industry, innovation and infrastructure. 

COVID-19 lessons learned? Funding for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR)

TOSSD data collection in 2022 included keywords that allow tracking PPR activities for the first time. Data can be divided among the three areas of PPR, namely:

• Prevention, defined as “activities which improve capacities to anticipate, respond to and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent, or current health emergencies”;
• Preparedness, defined as ”activities aimed at supporting organised collection, monitoring, assessment, and interpretation of information to support the management of health risks and events, including laboratory-based activities”, and
• Response, defined as “activities aimed at protecting communities and health systems from the impacts of health emergencies, including ensuring that research and development activities, medical countermeasures and coordination are in place to deal with likely, imminent, or current health emergencies”.

TOSSD is the only international statistical framework that collects activity-level data on support to PPR. TOSSD fills a critical data gap towards a successful One Health approach, defined by the World Health Organization as “an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimise the health of people, animals and the environment”. In 2022, over USD 1.2 billion were aimed at PPR activities in developing countries. Beyond these activities featured in the SDG indicator 17.3.1, USD 0.7 billion of support for PPR were reported to TOSSD as a contribution to international public goods.

Unsurprisingly, Health and Humanitarian aid are the two sectors receiving the bulk of funding for PPR – both in terms of cross-border resources to developing countries (TOSSD Pillar I, equivalent to SDG indicator 17.3.1 in this case) and contributions to international public goods (TOSSD Pillar II). Activities in other sectors have also been reported as PPR.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, and with the next pandemic on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) looming, investment in PPR is key towards achieving resilient health systems and healthier lives, and more prominently in developing countries that are more vulnerable to these health shocks.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when antimicrobial treatments progressively or completely lose their ability to treat infections. This is mainly due to natural changes that occur in pathogens, which are however boosted by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs as signalled by the World Health Organization. AMR is already affecting the health of humans, animals and plants from all countries, creating an extra burden on health systems. In 2019, the group of Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators estimated that AMR was associated with 4.95 million human deaths worldwide, including 1.27 million human deaths with AMR as the main cause.

Even if AMR is a global issue, the OECD projected in 2018 that AMR will grow at a faster pace in low and middle-income countries. Compared to an average of 17% of infections that show antimicrobial resistance in OECD countries, this figure ranges for example from 39% to 57% in Peru, Indonesia and India. Low and middle-income countries are expected to see their AMR rates grow at a pace four to seven times higher than the rates in OECD countries. Tracking funding to prepare for the next pandemic, therefore, becomes increasingly critical for appropriate, timely decision-making. 

Visit https://tossd.online/ to explore activity-level data on official support for sustainable development.

Publication date: 25 March 2024

Author: TOSSD Task Force Secretariat