The financing of SDGs needs clarification - opinion

Although many developing and small states face similar challenges, a one-size-fits-all approach to development and finance is not appropriate, writes Deodat Maharaj, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General for Economic and Social Development, Commonwealth Secretariat.

Recalling the "devastation unleashed by Cyclone Pam on Vanuatu, where a generation of development was lost in a matter of hours[, and] on the other side of the world, in the Caribbean, [where] we saw earlier this month the destruction caused by Tropical Storm Erika in Dominica", Maharaj asserts, "the Commonwealth Secretariat, fully support the emphasis on domestic resource mobilisation, we note with concern the exclusion of many of our small states from access to concessional finance and call on the international community to consider their inherent vulnerability when allocating overseas development assistance and determining access to affordable finance."