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Tax Justice Network Africa and Stop the Bleeding Campaign (STB) will participate in the 20th anniversary commemorations of the African Union Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), which will take place in Accra, Ghana, from 16 to 20 July 2024. The event, which seeks to celebrate two decades of citizen engagement and African solidarity, seeks to reinstate African Citizenry at the centre of the continental development agenda with the imminent rollout of the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063.
ECOSOCC serves as an advisory organ of the African Union. Its role is to facilitate a dynamic interface between AU Member States and the African populace, harnessing the expertise of civil society organisations (CSOs) and the broader community, including the private sector, in policy development and implementation.
The event will bring together CSOs, representatives of AU Member States, Regional Economic Communities RECs, International Organisations, development partner institutions and the African Diaspora.
TJNA’s participation will be as follows;
Side session: Financing Health Amidst Rising Taxes and High Debt Burdens
Date/Time: Saturday, 20th July 2024, 1400-1530 hrs, GMT (Accra)
The first aspiration of Agenda 2063 envisions a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development. In order to achieve this, a key goal is to ensure that Africans have access to free and universal health care. But the capacity of governments to invest in health and other social services is impeded by high debt levels and low revenue collections.
This side session will seek to identify pathways towards sustainable health financing even as states grapple with high debt levels and reshaping tax structures. The discussion will draw from case studies and lessons from the government of Ghana, as well as insights from civil society and multilateral institutions.
Zoom link: https://taxjusticeafrica-net.zoom.us/j/84982235365?pwd=UOXCkNE1y6rPrvW6qTYaaAld0qZa1H.1
Side Session: TJNA STB Citizens’ Assembly on Debt and Illicit Financial Flows
Date/Time: Saturday, 20th July 2024, 1530-1700 hrs, GMT (Accra)
Africa's efforts to consolidate its domestic resources mobilisation are being severely undermined by the growing debt burden and the high incidence of illicit financial flows (IFFs). Tax mobilisation, which is critical to domestic resource mobilisation, is weakened by debt, fiscal leakages in the form of IFFs, and inequalities within the international financial architecture that result in a narrow tax base.
The ‘Stop the Bleeding’ campaign (STB) aims to reclaim the social contract and firmly placing it in the hands of citizens as rights-holders by humanising and democratising the IFFs crisis and its connection to the real day-to-day struggles of African citizens.
The side session will provide a forum for Africa’s citizens to call to action their governments and the global finance for development mechanism to place the social contract at the centre of domestic resource mobilisation and in the fight against IFFs.
Zoom link: https://taxjusticeafrica-net.zoom.us/j/81031702853
For more information about our participation at the ECOSOC@20, please contact fotiato[@] taxjusticeafrica.net