The past five years have shifted the global economy, shaping a post-pandemic world that is rife with multiple crises and fuelled by rising authoritarianism, ceaseless resource extraction, and neoliberal dictates. As the world prepares for another conference that will define the course of development financing in the succeeding years, there is a greater push from those that are disproportionately affected by these crises to reform the international financial architecture. This primer outlines the thematic issues that the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) need to address. It also offers recommendations, including from broad civil society, towards new commitments that affirm positive elements from previous conferences (Monterrey, Doha, and Addis Ababa) and abandon existing structures, policies, and mechanisms that only reinforce colonial legacies.

The title reflects three key messages that IBON International would like the FfD process to address, if it were to advance a new international financial architecture—accountability across governance structures and towards the global South; reparations for the legacies of colonisation and the continuing neocolonial paradigm; and support for structural transformation that is anchored on people-centered solutions and development.