Finance in Common Summit 2023
As the world’s largest development banks gather for the Finance in Common summit (FICS) in Cartagena, Colombia, to pat themselves on the back for all the good they’re doing around the world, a group of 25 civil society activists from 20 countries has come together to denounce how these institutions are worsening the problems they claim to solve.
Public development banks (PDBs), like the World Bank or the Inter-American Development Bank, are one of the most powerful players in the global economy. At the annual FICS summit, they present themselves as champions in the fight against climate change and key drivers of sustainable development. But the facts paint a very different picture.
Check out the report “Demystifying Development Finance” and the case studies below to find out more.
Activities & events in Cartagena
Finance in Common Summit offical agenda available here
- Tuesday h 9.30 – 10.30 | room 302 AB
Side session – “Public development banks and human rights: debunking the myths and building the foundation for action”, with Ioana Tuta (Danish Institute for Human Rights), Anna Roggenbuck (CEE Bankwacth network), Stephanie Amoako (Accountability Counsel), and another civil society activist tbc.
- Tuesday h 11.00 – 12.00 | CSOs room [Facebook live – room for 10 people only]
Launch of the report “Demystifying Development Finance”, with civil society activists Maia Seeger (Sustentarse | Chile), John Brownell (Green Advocates International | Liberia) and Ivahanna Larrosa (Coalition for Human Rights in Development)
- Tuesday h 12.00 – 12.30 | Square outside FICS conference centre
“People over Profit” mobilization action, with over 30 activists from all over the world
- Tuesday h 17.15- 18:30 | Room Arsenal
Side Event on Strengthening Relations between CSO and PDBs (organizer: FORUS)
- Wednesday h 9.45 – 11.15 | Salones 303B
Plenary 5: Building Bridges: Public Development Banks as Catalysts for Human Rights
Speakers: Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights | Alice Mogwe, IFHR | Claudia Coenjaerts, ILO | Gerald Kankya, Twerwaneho Listeners Radio Club | Heuiya Alicia Cahuiya Iteca, Waorani People in Ecuador | Darío Mejía, UN | Adonaí Herrera-Martínez, EBRD | Moderator: Ioana Tuta, Danish Institute of Human Rights
Spotlight
Articles, blogs & previous campaigns
Public Development Banks must prioritise indigenous peoples and communities in climate projects
Finance in Common 2025
Press release: Civil society at the Finance in Common Summit calls for community-led, equitable, and human rights-based development
Newsletter October 2023 – Finance in Common
If it generates debt, it is not development
FIC23: Civil Society Insights
FIC23: Beyond propaganda
