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A toolkit containing a one-stop shop where countries can find information about suitable funding for development has been launched by the ����̽��.

The ‘Innovative Finance for Development: A Commonwealth Toolkit’ was launched during the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meetings in Washington DC on 7 October 2014.

The handbook guides countries, especially, the smallest, poorest and most vulnerable, and their development partners, with ideas on identifying, evaluating and selecting financing options to boost their development plans.

Speaking during the launch, Ms Samantha Attridge, one of the authors and Head of Finance and Development Policy international finance at the ����̽�� said that the toolkit, the first of its kind, will help policy makers navigate the innovative finance landscape and match sources to fund particular development goals.

“There is an urgent need to tap new sources of innovative finance for development and to find ways of delivering traditional sources of finance more effectively. This toolkit, the first of its kind, documents sources of innovative finance for development in one place according to a set criteria and assesses these sources against a set of effective finance principles to help policy makers navigate the landscape and start matching mechanisms and sources of finance to fund particular development goals.”

Chile's deputy ambassador to Washington DC, Mauricho Hurtado, who is the co-chair of the United Nations Leading Group on Innovative Finance described publication a useful  tool for helping  countries in their search for resources to build a fair, just and inclusive world.

"This is a practical guide that will stimulate debate and promote sharing of ideas and experiences on this very important topic. It is an enormously useful and welcome contribution by the Commonwealth," Mr Hurtado said.

Writing in the foreword of the toolkit, Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma notes that new and additional resources have to be found if the development financing requirements of developing countries post-2015 are to be met.

Mr Sharma says that the relevance and impact of the new ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ will depend upon the ability to finance them.

“Even if the international community meets existing official development assistance (ODA) commitments, the needs significantly exceed the resources available,” he says.

The Secretary-General adds: This publication is intended to facilitate consideration of how IFD can help overcome the immense challenges facing our poorest, smallest, and most vulnerable member countries. We hope it will assist policy-makers by serving as a tool that enables innovative finance for development options to be assessed against a range of criteria and considered according to principles appropriate to specific development goals.”

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