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The Financial Transparency Coalition releases a toolkit to empower civil society organisations in the Global South to demystify technical issues on illicit financial flows.
Nairobi, 10 March 2020 – The Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) produced a toolkit on illicit financial flows (IFFs) that provides analysis, facts and case studies for civil society organisations (CSOs) to engage their constituencies on the fight against IFFs, through evidence-based advocacy. This toolkit seeks to create approaches to detect, remedy or mitigate risks associated with financial secrecy, IFFs enablers, lopsided impact on domestic resources and the much-needed reforms in the international financial architecture. More than any other part of the world, IFFs and economic injustices affect developing countries while benefiting developed countries and the wealthy elite. Every year, the lost tax revenue due to corporate tax avoidance amounts to an estimate $50bn-$100bn.
The toolkit is a collection of inputs from member organisations, namely the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), the Latin American Network on Economic and Social Justice (LATINDADD), the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) and the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA). Under the FTC umbrella, they seek to act as an incubator by placing just tax systems and financial transparency at the heart of development debates. In that spirit, the toolkit demystifies technical issues on IFFs, financial transparency for better advocacy and awareness-raising.
The fight against IFFs requires a consensus on the definition; a focus in the most affected sectors: the extractives; a mobilisation of lawyers in the Global South; cooperation at national, regional and global levels and a highlight of the role of bankers as IFF’s facilitators. Thus, five modules constitute the IFF toolkit and address: the definition of IFFs (module 1), the fight against IFFs in the extractive sector (module 2), advocacy for lawyers (module 3), national, regional and international interventions (module 4), the role of banks as IFFs facilitators (module 5). Robert Ssuuna, tax and International policy architecture lead at TJNA said: “The tool acts as a blueprint for practitioners on the continent to expose global economic injustices and to shape policies against IFFs.’’
Indeed, immediate and long-term approaches CSOs can follow, include the following: advocacy for a consensus on the definition of IFFs, advocacy for an openly accessible register on ultimate beneficial owners (actual human owners) to challenge all forms of illicit finance.
Contacts: Cynthia Umurungi, Communication Officer, Mail: cumurungi@taxjusticeafrica.net