A conversation with Toril-Iren Pedersen, Director of the UNDP Global Policy Centre for Governance, and Michael Jarvis, Executive Director of the Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion (TAI) Collaborative

Q1: What is financial integrity and why is it important right now? Why is it relevant to TAI’s members?

Toril-Iren Pedersen

For us, the issue is not limited to one category of wrongdoing. It is about the connection between different parts of economic value, from public revenues to criminal flows, and the loopholes that exist within the regular financial system. Financial integrity cannot be considered in isolation. Weaknesses across tax, corruption, anti-money laundering and the broader global financial architecture all have to be understood together.

Michael Jarvis: At TAI, we see financial integrity as the need for systems to operate transparently, accountably and ethically. That is how people ideally manage their personal finances, and how we hope corporations run their businesses. But we are especially focused on governments and countries: how they strengthen the integrity of their financial systems, minimize corruption, encourage fairness and better steward public resources.

There is a clear development case for why this matters. TAI’s members are primarily U.S.-based philanthropies working internationally, and our work is organized around three priorities: strengthening healthy democracies, advancing climate accountability and improving fiscal accountability through fair and effective financial governance. Financial integrity underpins all three. Without it, progress in each area is weakened.

Michael Jarvis

When financial systems lack integrity, the damage is broad. It undermines trust in government, contributes to democratic disillusionment and weakens citizens’ confidence that public resources are being used fairly. It can also slow the energy transition, as we have seen with concerns around carbon markets. And it directly affects the ability of governments to raise and spend revenue effectively.

Toril-Iren Pedersen: I would add that declining trust in governments and in the multilateral system is higher than we have seen in a very long time. Lack of financial integrity contributes directly to that distrust.

Visible wealth inequality is one challenge, but so is the perception of invisible wealth being accumulated through the global financial architecture. When people sense that wealth is moving in the shadows, outside transparency and democratic control, it creates legitimate grounds for distrust. That is why lack of financial integrity must be understood as a systems failure that requires a systems approach.

Michael Jarvis: That is also the focus of the new paper from your team, the UNDP Global Policy Centre for Governance, which TAI supported. It emphasizes why progress requires action on multiple fronts and why no single actor or institution can solve this alone. Financial integrity is a collective action challenge.

Q2: How has UNDP’s Global Policy Centre for Governance worked on financial integrity over the past few years? What were your most important results and insights?

Toril-Iren Pedersen: The Centre’s work has taken place across several streams, but the most important contribution has been analyzing the system and the relationships among different actors. When we look at corruption and illicit financial flows, we have to ask who enables those flows within countries and across borders. Understanding those relationships is central to financial integrity.

The Centre has also convened actors within the UN and among practitioners, including country representatives involved in the Financing for Development negotiations in Sevilla last summer. That process helped produce stronger commitments to curb illicit financial flows and introduced more substantive language on financial integrity and corruption than we had seen in earlier iterations of the Financing for Development agenda.

The analytical work on the financial integrity ecosystem and the systems approach has also been developed in collaboration with several TAI members, including the MacArthur Foundation and Ford Foundation. Their support has been important both substantively and financially.

Q3: How will the Centre work on financial integrity going forward, under your leadership?

Toril-Iren Pedersen: The Centre has worked on a range of governance frontier issues. Going forward, we will focus on two areas: financial integrity, and data systems and data availability at the country level. The data agenda connects directly to financial integrity, but it also has broader relevance.

On financial integrity, we see a need to problem-solve the systemic challenges that are preventing progress at both the country and global levels. We will continue analyzing what is stopping countries from making substantive progress and what kinds of solutions and policy alternatives can be made available to them.

Some of these solutions already exist, but they are not always accessible. As a UNDP Policy Centre, our role is to make research, policy options and insights into systemic challenges available to UNDP country offices so they can be integrated into country-level programming. We also hope this work will help countries engage more effectively in global processes.

There is currently a disconnect. The Financial Action Task Force, the OECD tax framework and anti-corruption frameworks all rely on data from countries, but they do not always help solve what is fundamentally a systems challenge. We will continue engaging in those processes while breaking the work into more manageable areas where countries can take action nationally, regionally and globally.

Q4: What is the role of philanthropy in strengthening financial integrity against the backdrop of a fast-evolving global development landscape? What collaboration opportunities do you see between philanthropies, multilateral organizations and other stakeholders?

Michael Jarvis: Philanthropy’s role is a nimble one. The volume of finance philanthropy brings is not the same as government donors or what countries can mobilize themselves. The question is how philanthropy can prompt the right conversations and support work that moves the agenda more effectively.

Traditionally, philanthropy has supported civil society groups, independent media and think tanks at the global and national levels. Those actors investigate financial integrity issues, build evidence, raise public awareness and develop policy recommendations for governments and multilateral forums.

Philanthropy also has limits. Individual donors, including TAI members, often focus on a relatively small number of priority countries. They are not operating at a scale that covers all countries affected by these issues. That is where the UN system and international financial institutions can play a different role, because they work with nearly every country and have government relationships built into their mandates.

There are important complementarities. The MacArthur Foundation, for example, has made a major investment in Nigeria around financial integrity and anti-corruption, working with government agencies while also supporting civil society and media. More broadly, different actors bring different relationships, mandates and capacities.

The Financing for Development process in Sevilla is a good example. The outcome was stronger because many players were involved, from civil society groups working in-country to global and regional convenings that reinforced the message. Those efforts helped shape the negotiations and elevate financial integrity on the agenda.

An important opportunity is the Illicit Finance Summit, being hosted by the UK Government in June. It can bring together governments committed to addressing financial integrity challenges and create space for civil society, academia, philanthropy and others to develop practical solutions. Philanthropy should be part of that conversation and think about where its support can amplify or pilot ideas that emerge.

Visibility also matters because it helps attract resources. Funding for financial integrity work remains very limited. In a 2023 analysis, TAI estimated that about $150 million had been directed to illicit financial flows work since 2020, including efforts to address tax avoidance.

That averages roughly $30 million a year across different groups, countries and sectors. Compared with the scale of the problem, and compared with funding for fields such as climate or AI, that is extremely small.

The upcoming summit could serve as a call to action for philanthropy and other funders to invest more. The rise in fraud enabled by crypto and other technologies affects people directly and is creating grassroots demand for action. Partnership will be essential, including with UNDP, the World Bank, national governments, civil society and research networks.

Toril-Iren Pedersen: I agree. We need to mobilize more resources, but it is also important to recognize what has already been achieved with limited funding. Much of the momentum for change over the past 10 to 15 years has come from civil society organizations, journalist networks and collaborative investigations around leaks. Those efforts helped put issues such as tax fairness, transparency and beneficial ownership on national and global agendas.

This field has shown that limited resources can have an outsized effect when actors from different parts of the ecosystem work together. Anti-corruption, tax fairness and anti-money laundering were once treated as separate silos. Bringing those communities together around shared solutions is a cost-effective way of working.

Going forward, we also need to connect financial integrity to other development priorities, including climate finance and health financing. Each sector has its own financial integrity challenges. With the current development financing crunch, we cannot afford to leave money on the table, and we cannot afford to let resources disappear when policy action could prevent it.

Q5: Is there a case for involving the business community? What would the message be?

Toril-Iren Pedersen: Yes. Governance investments are one area we will be looking at closely. There is enormous pressure to mobilize funding from private actors and the private sector. Much of the focus has been on ensuring that specific investments comply with human rights and development standards. That remains important.

But financial integrity is also about longer-term systems de-risking. Investments in anti-corruption mechanisms, laws that reduce corruption risk and dispute-resolution frameworks can make markets more attractive for private investment. The goal is to build systems where private actors face lower real or perceived risk and can operate without relying as heavily on facilitated investment support.

In that sense, we need to distinguish between short-term and long-term de-risking, and between project-level and systems-level de-risking.

Michael Jarvis: There is a strong private sector incentive to support financial integrity, especially for companies operating across borders. But there is also a quid pro quo: corporate actors need to uphold their own standards of financial integrity. That includes thinking responsibly about the taxes they pay in different jurisdictions and avoiding excessive profit shifting.

The private sector benefits from stronger financial integrity systems, but it also has responsibilities within them. Beneficial ownership transparency is one example where progress has helped make it easier to identify who is behind corporate structures. These structures are still misused, but many legitimate private sector actors increasingly recognize that transparency can help distinguish them from bad actors and reduce reputational risk.

All of us have a role in the system. The challenge now is to make a clear case for why financial integrity deserves continued investment, government attention and policy bandwidth, especially at a time of aid cuts, foreign assistance pressures and tight country budgets. That is a collective challenge, and one we need to keep elevating.

IPS UN Bureau

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The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), began 30 June and will conclude 3 July 2025 in FIBES Sevilla Exhibition and Conference Centre, Spain.
 
According to the UN, FFD4 aspires to build a renewed global financing framework that will unlock greater volumes of capital at a lower cost. In Sevilla, and through a renewed global financing framework, leaders are taking action to deliver an SDG investment push and to reform the international financial architecture to enable the transformative change that the world urgently needs.

By Michael Jarvis
WASHINGTON DC, Jul 1 2025 (IPS)

As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) kicks off in Sevilla, Spain, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

At a moment when much of the world is distracted by geopolitical rivalries, battles over tax and spending, and declining aid, FfD4 is quietly assembling nearly every government on earth to discuss how we fund the future.

Behind the formal speeches and policy jargon is a rare and vital opportunity to rethink the global financial system in a way that is fairer, more inclusive, and better equipped to serve both people and planet.

This isn’t just another international summit. It’s the first such meeting in a decade, and it comes at a time when development finance systems are under unprecedented strain. Climate shocks, austerity measures, and widening inequality are colliding with falling aid budgets and a debt crisis affecting over 50 countries. For many in the Global South, the question isn’t how to accelerate progress, it’s how to avoid collapse.

And yet, amid all this, 193 countries will show up. They’ve come not just to debate, but to negotiate, align, and hopefully act. That, in itself, is worth noting. Multilateralism isn’t dead. Leadership is coming from new sources and the Compromiso de Sevilla demonstrates that agreement is still possible.

From Global Goals to Ground-Level Gaps

The world has made bold promises, such as meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, but we are falling far behind. Financing gaps are widening, and trust in international institutions is eroding. But FfD4 offers a chance to restore some of that trust by showing that global cooperation can still deliver practical, people-centered solutions.

This week, governments will be pressed to move from vague commitments to concrete steps. That means scaling up fair tax systems that generate domestic revenue without deepening inequality. It means reimagining the way sovereign debt is taken on and managed so that countries aren’t forced to choose between paying creditors and paying teachers.

And it means strengthening the transparency and accountability mechanisms that ensure resources reach the people who need them most.

Quiet Achievements, Real Stakes

It’s easy to dismiss global conferences as talk shops. But in a fractured world, dialogue is essential. Even before the conference began, diplomats reached consensus on a shared outcome document. It won’t satisfy every stakeholder, and it’s far from revolutionary, but it affirms something many feared lost: a willingness to work together.

The document supports stronger domestic resource mobilization, enhanced transparency in fiscal systems, more equitable tax cooperation, and steps toward reforming the debt architecture. These are not minor tweaks, they’re foundational issues that will determine whether countries can invest in health, education, and climate resilience.

The real test, of course, begins after Sevilla. Commitments on paper mean little without follow-through. That’s why the implementation phase must include robust accountability, and why funders and civil society have a critical role to play in sustaining momentum.

Where Philanthropy Comes In

One glaring omission in both the lead-up to this conference and the outcome document itself is the role of philanthropy. Mentioned only once in the official document and only as a potential contributor to pooled capital, there has been little consideration of the role of philanthropy in future development finance.

That’s a mistake.

Philanthropy isn’t a substitute for public finance, but it is a powerful complement. It can take risks governments can’t. It can move resources quickly. And it can help ensure that the most marginalized voices, often excluded from elite negotiating tables, are heard and heeded.

At the Trust, Accountability and Inclusion Collaborative, we’ve seen how funders can drive progress by supporting more inclusive decision making and helping watchdogs, media and open government champions help shine a light on how money is spent and whether it’s truly serving the public interest.

Philanthropy can also help Global South governments navigate the technical and political complexities of international tax and debt processes, ensuring they’re not just at the table, but empowered to lead.

And critically, funders can support civil society organizations that encourage civic participation, monitor progress, demand results, and build public trust. In an age of growing authoritarianism and civic space closures, this kind of support is more important than ever.

A Moment to Build On

Sevilla will not solve the world’s financing challenges in four days. But it can mark a turning point. It can begin to restore trust in a multilateral system that too often feels distant, slow, or captured by narrow interests. It can elevate issues like financial integrity, equitable taxation, and debt justice that are too often buried in technical discussions.

And it can create space for new actors, especially from philanthropy and civil society, to step up and help turn ambition into action.

We are not powerless in the face of global fragmentation. Progress is still possible. FfD4 reminds us that the machinery of cooperation still exists. The question is whether we are willing to use it.

IPS UN Bureau

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Excerpt:

FFD4 Home Seville Platform for Action, 30 June-3 July 2025. Credit: United Nations

By Michael Jarvis
WASHINGTON DC, Apr 9 2025 (IPS)

This June, world leaders will gather in Seville for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), a milestone opportunity to reimagine how the global economy delivers for people and the planet. But the real question isn’t whether this historic convening will happen. It’s whether it will matter.

Global systems are straining under the weight of overlapping crises: a ballooning debt burden across the Global South, massive financing gaps to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and climate catastrophes that demand urgent and equitable funding.

And yet, even as needs escalate, traditional sources of foreign aid are in retreat. The U.S. and other major donors are pulling back, creating gaping holes in public budgets and threatening the survival of civil society organizations that provide essential services and accountability functions.

Michael Jarvis

And if governments are willing to be bold, they won’t be alone. Philanthropy can be a catalytic force backing systemic reforms. Funders can lead by example with commitments under the Sevilla Platform for Action that will bring together voluntary initiatives to deliver measurable progress to boost a renewed financing framework.

The current draft of the conference outcome document includes some encouraging steps: nods to progressive taxation, recognition of the need for fairer sovereign debt mechanisms, and reform of international finance institutions.

But as the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) notes, many proposals still fall short of transformative change. Key concepts like human rights, gender equality, and participation appear inconsistently and more as rhetoric than as guiding principles.

We can do more to center Global South voices in negotiations and this is one way in which philanthropy can step up – helping expand the participation of diverse voices to be at the table, ensuring the perspectives of those most affected by financing decisions are heard.

Funders can also support the technical and diplomatic engagement of Global South governments in negotiations, so their priorities are fully represented.

Beyond participation, there’s a pressing need to fill thematic gaps—particularly in underfunded areas such as debt justice, fair taxation, and protection of civic space. Philanthropic commitments that align publicly with the FfD4 goals can build credibility and create positive pressure for ambitious reforms.

Just as importantly, funders must be willing to invest beyond the conference itself, providing long-term support to translate declarations into tangible outcomes on the ground.

Consider the issue of sovereign debt. Today, over 50 countries are in crisis, with many spending more on debt service than on healthcare or education. Without systemic reform, these countries will remain trapped in cycles of austerity and underdevelopment.

Philanthropy can fund advocacy, support debtor country coalitions and research to unlock debt relief, but also invest in revising frameworks, including building in greater transparency and oversight, to ensure that when countries borrow in the future debt is more sustainable.

Tax reform is another area where funders can have a significant impact. In the face of reduced foreign assistance, countries will need to rely more on their own revenue mobilization, but in ways that don’t exacerbate inequality.

From reinforcing constructive engagement in shaping the new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation to supporting watchdog organizations that expose illicit financial flows, philanthropy can help shift the narrative and the policy framework toward a fairer tax system and restore faith in tax as our “social superpower” that supports so many of the services that citizens rely upon.

Climate finance, too, demands a bolder philanthropic role. For example, we need to invest not just in raising new finance for climate mitigation and adaptation, but in ensuring those funds get to where they need to go.

Philanthropy can support government and civil society capacity to ensure that every climate dollar counts. None of this is about replacing governments. It’s about augmenting their ability to act in the public interest and holding them accountable when they do not.

Funders, such as the members of the Trust, Accountability and Inclusion Collaborative, have already demonstrated what’s possible when philanthropy aligns with governance reform. They’re not just writing checks, they are investing in a more trust-based, accountable and inclusive development finance system. That model must become the norm and for those funders interested to learn more there are peers ready to offer advice or join forces.

In an era when multilateralism is under strain and trust in public institutions is eroding, the role of independent, values-driven actors is more important than ever. The FfD4 conference is a moment to demonstrate that the international development community can still serve people and the planet if enough of us are willing to push in that direction.

Philanthropy has the agility, the resources, and the networks to lead that push. It must not be a silent partner at this time. The stakes are too high.

Michael Jarvis is the Executive Director of the Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion (TAI) Collaborative, a network of philanthropic funders advancing systemic reforms to build more inclusive and accountable governance globally.

IPS UN Bureau

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The conference will address new and emerging issues, and the urgent need to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals, and support reform of the international financial architecture.FfD4 will assess the progress made in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, the Doha Declaration and the Addis Ababa Action agenda.

By Michael Jarvis
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 19 2024 (IPS)

As the global community races to close the staggering $4.2 trillion financing gap needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) emerges as a crucial juncture.

Scheduled for June 30 to July 3, 2025, in Seville, Spain, this conference is not merely another gathering of world leaders and finance ministers. It represents a pivotal opportunity to reshape the global financial architecture and address critical issues such as climate financing, tax governance, and debt relief.

Yet, one vital partner in this process—philanthropy—remains largely underutilized. As governments navigate competing priorities and the private sector remains hesitant to fully commit to the development agenda, philanthropic funders have a unique role to play in ensuring that FfD4 delivers on its promise of equitable and sustainable outcomes.

Our recent report titled “Setting the Global Agenda for Tax, Debt, and International Aid through 2035,” underscores this urgency. The report calls on funders to engage actively in the FfD4 process and outlines key ways they can contribute to its success.

One vital contribution is widening stakeholder participation. Philanthropic funders can ensure that Global South civil society organizations (CSOs) have a seat at the table by providing financial support for their participation. The FfD4’s inclusive intergovernmental format, managed by the United Nations, is unique in offering Global South countries an equal footing, but to influence the eventual outcomes you need to be in the negotiating rooms.

Earlier this month, government representatives began narrowing down their wishlist in discussions in New York, but it is expensive to send delegations. Funders can facilitate the engagement of Global South governments in negotiations by financially supporting their involvement. This helps amplify their voices and ensures that systemic reforms reflect their realities and needs.

Additionally, philanthropy can bridge underfunded areas by supporting innovative research and advocacy efforts, particularly in tax reform and debt governance. For example, among the proposals up for debate is creation of a tax on the super wealthy backed by a global asset registry, a concept built out with philanthropic support. Filling these thematic gaps is essential to assuring that FfD4 sets an ambitious agenda for the decade to come.

Another critical action is for funders to make public commitments aligning their strategies with the FfD4 agenda backed by new investments, so inspiring others and encouraging donor accountability. The real test of FfD4’s impact, however, will come in the follow-up phase. Continued funding from philanthropic actors will be critical to ensuring the promises made at the conference are translated into concrete actions.

At the heart of the FfD4 agenda are issues that demand urgent and transformative action. The global debt crisis, for example, has left many developing nations in a financial stranglehold, threatening their economic stability and ability to invest in health, education, and infrastructure. A UN-mandated legal framework for debt resolution and targeted relief measures could provide a lifeline, but these require sustained advocacy and pressure from all quarters, including philanthropic actors.

Similarly, taxation and illicit financial flows (IFFs) remain contentious issues. Developing countries lose an estimated $1 trillion annually to tax avoidance and evasion, undermining their ability to fund essential services. Philanthropy can support research and policy advocacy to ensure that Global South perspectives are at the forefront of these reforms.

Finally, the conference will revisit the role of private financing in closing the SDG funding gap. While leveraging private capital has shown mixed results, the philanthropic community can play a critical role in identifying and promoting alternative, effective solutions.

While philanthropy has often been a silent partner in the Financing for Development process, this is the moment to step forward and make a tangible and long-lasting impact. For funders, FfD4 is not just an event—it is a call to action. It is an opportunity to amplify the voices of the marginalized, push for systemic change, and hold governments and institutions accountable. The philanthropic community must seize this moment to drive reforms that prioritize equity, transparency, and sustainability.

The clock is ticking. The world is watching. And philanthropy must rise to the occasion.

Michael Jarvis is the Executive Director of The Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion (TAI) Collaborative. The TAI Collaborative is a network of philanthropic funders committed to advancing a world where power and resources are distributed more equitably, communities are informed and empowered, and governments and the corporate sector act with integrity for the good of people and planet.

IPS UN Bureau

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