The Fourth Plenary Session of the Leading Group on Solidarity Levies to fund development was held in Dakar on 22 and 23 April 2008. Several member States or observers as well as representatives of International Organisations and the Civil Society were in attendance.

The meeting reviewed the various actions undertaken within the Group and defined its agenda for the period between this session and the Conference convened in Doha, from 29 November to 2 December 2008 to examine the Monterrey Consensus on development financing. It also provided the opportunity to welcome new members, notably Sierra Leone, with the hope that they will make a quality contribution to the reflection as well as to the action Group.

The opening ceremony was presided by His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, who underscored the key issues underpinning the reflection and action on development financing and referred to the current context of world crisis, marked by an increase in oil prices and the cost of basic commodities, which makes the most disadvantaged strata even more vulnerable.

President Wade urged participants to be more imaginative,
suggesting that they should go beyond innovative financing
sources, and look for innovative investments in order to make their approach more effective. This idea attracted the Group’s attention and the Guinean Foreign Minister, speaking on behalf of his delegation, proposed that President Wade Address be included in the working documents of the meeting.

During the opening ceremony, the French Ambassador,
representing the French Secretary of State for Cooperation and
Francophonie, and speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretariat of the Leading Group, recalled the key stages of the Group’s evolution and hailed the progress registered as well as its expansion through the adherence of new players.