Southsouth-Galaxy

2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development & 4th PrepCom for FFD4 Side Event:  Advancing Inclusive Digital Trade through Multistakeholder Cooperation,  30 April 2025 

April 22, 2025
  • Date & Time: 30 Apr 2025 10:00 AM Eastern Time
  • Venue: Hybrid: UNOSSC Doha Conference Room, 11th Floor, 304 East 45th Street, New York, USA | Virtual via Zoom
  • Target Audience: registrants of the FfD4 conference, which includes:
    • Policymakers and Regulators: Governments, trade ministries, and regulatory bodies.
    • International Organizations: UN agencies, development banks, and multilateral institutions.
    • Civil Society and Academia: Gender equality advocates, researchers, and digital trade experts.
    • Private Sector: Fintech companies, e-commerce platforms, and digital infrastructure providers.
  • For registration, click here

Introduction:

The 4th Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) presents a critical opportunity to align financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with inclusive digital trade emerging as a transformative pathway. By driving economic growth, reducing inequalities, and fostering regional integration, digital trade can unlock sustainable development – yet its potential remains constrained by fragmented policies, infrastructure gaps, and unequal access.

The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) are organizing a side-event on the margins of the 2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development & 4th PrepCom for FFD4

This side event will demonstrate how multilateral collaboration bridges these gaps, using examples of regional trade policy frameworks as a springboard for global action. Together, we will showcase scalable models to:

  1. Mobilize Financing: Leverage tools developed by DCO and UNOSSC, respectively, such as DCO’s Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) framework and Digital Economy Navigator (DEN), to identify opportunities to catalyze investments in interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for secure, cross-border trade.
  2. Strengthen Regional Integration: Highlight tools like Digital Trade Protocols, Digital Corridors, and Trade Flow Agreements that address barriers to commerce, and the potential for the new UNOSSC service line – the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Solutions Lab to incubate and scale up solutions in a holistic manner.
  3. Advance Gender Equality: Scale initiatives like WE-Elevate to empower women-led MSMEs in the digital economy.

Aligned with FfD4’s mandate, First Draft: Outcome Document, Section II D “International Trade as an engine for development” & Section II G “Science, technology, innovation and capacity building”, this session will translate high-level commitments into actionable solutions, leveraging:

  • South-South & Triangular Cooperation led by UNOSSC’s expertise to replicate successes across regions.
  • Digital Cooperation led by DCO’s convening power to unite governments, the private sector, and development partners behind shared frameworks.

Expected Outcomes

  • Strengthened Partnerships with development banks, international organizations, tech firms, and others to pilot cross-border digital trade frameworks and scale initiatives such as WE-Elevate.
  • Showcase successful trade protocols as blueprints for creating regulation-ready, interoperable digital ecosystems that attract investment, advocating for actionable lessons for other regions.
  • Achieve proactive interest in potential PPP pathways and other innovative financing mechanisms to enable DCO Member States to boost intra-DCO digital trade as a GDP accelerator through aligned policy frameworks.
  • Mobilize financing for scalable solutions by striving to unlock commitments to fund interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Digital Corridors, and capacity-building programs through triangular cooperation (governments, private sector, MDBs).
  • Drive gender-equitable growth by spotlighting WE-Elevate and other initiatives as models for empowering women-led MSMEs through digital trade, aligning with SDG 5 and SDG 8.
  • Foster peer learning and regional integration by sharing best practices to inspire cross-border digital trade policies and infrastructure development in the Global South.

Agenda:

Description Speakers/Participants
Introduction and welcome

Moderator: Zanofer Ismalebbe, Chief, Knowledge Management, UNOSSC
Opening Remarks (10 mins)
  • Hassan Nasser, Special Envoy – Multilateral Affairs, DCO: Welcome and framing of digital trade as a catalyst for SDGs.
  • Dima Al-Khatib, Director, UNOSSC (by video): Importance of South-South cooperation in scaling inclusive digital ecosystems. 
Panel Discussion: From Policy to Impact (45 mins)
  • Nshuti Mbabazi, Managing Director, Better than Cash Alliance – The AU interoperability framework for Digital ID and the AfCFTA are some of the instruments on the African continent. What is your assessment of the current status of Digital trade in Africa and are we doing enough? How is your work advancing the SDGs?
  • Jane Munga, Fellow – Africa Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – What are the key considerations in translating digital trade policy to practice? What lessons can we learn from digital public infrastructure (DPI) experiences across the world and how can we translate it into a viable digital corridor? (Virtual)
  • Priya Vora – CEO, Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) – South-South cooperation and learning – Africa Data Leadership initiative on DPI and data practices. (Virtual)
  • Liz Kiehner, Chief Growth Officer North America, Nortal – Global South needs to develop further capabilities in policy and implementation of best practices in digital transformation. What is your assessment of the needs and challenges that your partners face and how can global south learn from them to develop home-grown solutions?
  • Grace Wang, Trust Funds Director, UNOSSC – How can South-South and Triangular Cooperation support digital trade? What modalities and mechanisms can be better leveraged to achieve impact at scale?
  • Amir Hamza Syed, Asst. Manager, Global Advocacy, Islamic Development Bank – What are the barriers to financing and how is the bank assisting Member States in unlocking access to funding for digital trade and transformation?
  • Aura Cifuentes, Fellow, Investments Team at Co-Develop – How is the LAC Digital Citizen Initiative helping to bridge the digital divide in LAC and what would be the objectives it has set out to achieve? (Virtual)
Interactive Q&A Session (10 mins) Open floor for questions from the audience, focusing on challenges and opportunities in financing for digital development and the implementation of Digital Trade agreements.
Closing Remarks (05 mins)

Summary of key takeaways – Sameem Gaffar, Multilateral Partnership & engagement Senior Manager, DCO