United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC)

South Centre Intervention, 21 May 2026

27 TH SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL WORKING GROUP ON THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT (21 MAY 2026, PDN-TEMPUS)

Panel: Tax-related illicit financial flows and the right to development

South Centre Intervention

The South Centre’s spoke at the United Nations’ 27th Session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development on a panel discussion on tax-related illicit financial flows and the right to development.

Key points:

– The UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC) must include tax avoidance in the definition of tax-related illicit financial flows (TIFFs)

– UNFCITC must also include an effective monitoring mechanism so progress on reducing TIFFs can be measured

– Public Country by Country Reporting (pCBCR) of tax paid is a key component of the fight against TIFFs and the South Centre is taking various actions to promote pCBCR

– UNFCITC’s second protocol’s tools on dispute prevention like joint audits have huge potential to reduce TIFFs

– UNFCITC’s Conference of Parties will play a central role in ensuring effectiveness and must be well designed.

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South Centre Inputs to INC on UNFCITC, February-March 2026

South Centre Inputs to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the UN  Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC) released three documents in January 2026 to inform negotiations at its Fourth Session, held in February 2026 in New York:

  1. Co-Lead’s Draft Framework Convention Template (22 Jan 2026) prepared by Workstream I, providing draft text for the Articles of the Convention.
  2. Co-Lead’s Draft Options Paper (21 Jan 2026) prepared by Workstream II, outlining options for the protocol on the taxation of services.
  3. Co-Leads’ Concept Note (23 Jan 2026) prepared by Workstream III, presenting potential design features for dispute prevention and resolution protocol mechanisms.

The South Centre submitted inputs on the three documents on February 26 and March 6, 2026, following a call for input by the INC. The submissions are reproduced below:

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