The Compromiso de Sevilla: Media’s Undervalued but Vital Role in Financing for Development

For the journalism and media development community, it is also vital that the adopted Outcome Document, the Compromiso de Sevilla, reaffirmed the critical importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact, and other references to fundamental freedoms set out in the founding documents of the United Nations.

Missed Opportunity for Media Inclusion

Dr Clare Cook, Head of Journalism and Media Viability at International Media Support, attended the FFD4 conference in Seville as part of the Danish civil society delegation.

She found it striking that the broader role of media—particularly in promoting information integrity, social cohesion, local transparency, and economic development—was largely absent from the discussions.

Her message at the conference was clear: public interest media must be recognised as essential to enabling local economic and business ecosystems. In particular, Clare and IMS see an urgent need to:

• Scale up collaboration and multidisciplinary ways of working. Initiatives such as the Media Viability Manifesto and the mobilisation of a task force on private and philanthropic capital is a promising step forward.
• Position media as micro and small enterprises, drawing them more clearly into entrepreneurial and business development communities. In doing so, we can place the emphasis on the contribution of media to local economic growth and stability, rather than purely a contribution to human rights and democracy.
• Scale up the capacity development needed to make financial flows effective, such as accelerators, advisors, mentoring and cohort approaches, which make knowledge applied and actionable. Acknowledge that local banking and community institutions may not be the first actors that come to mind when trying to unlock local capital, but are nonetheless a key component.
• Deal with systemic and thematic challenges facing multiple civil society sectors around inequality and information integrity with a joint approach. The Global Public Investment Network is one such initiative.

For deeper insights from Clare Cook and the IMS team, see their full analysis.

The opening of FFD4. Source: UN Photo/ Julio Munoz

Why FFD4 Matters for Journalism

Among the many important policy processes taking place this year, one remained relatively under the radar of the journalism and media support community – the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4).

GFMD recognised the significance of FFD4 at an early stage. It responded by engaging consultants, compiling resources and toolkits, and organising briefings and sector-specific meetings to galvanise support across its membership. Furthermore, GFMD reached out to member states and negotiation teams involved in FFD4 to ensure that the role of journalism and media was duly acknowledged and not overlooked.

FFD4 was a key global policy process shaping the future of journalism. Much of the process focused on transparency, accountability, and public engagement in development financing. Our community advocated strongly for recognition of the media’s role in these areas and for ensuring the necessary support for the media to fulfil that role effectively.

In light of the withdrawal of US funding and significant cuts to official development assistance (ODA) earmarked for media development and journalism support, our community has had to redouble its efforts to promote journalism and media as integral to the public interest.

As we face increasing challenges in securing the necessary preconditions and infrastructure — legal, financial, technological, and institutional — for journalism to operate, it is essential that human rights, freedom of expression, civil society, and particularly the journalism and media community, are recognised not only as stakeholders but as a distinct sector deserving of dedicated funding from both state and multilateral institutions.

What’s next?

1. Make the case for increasing the capacity of journalists and media to combat illicit finance
   Our community — particularly investigative journalism and public media focused on illicit financial flows, transparency, accountability, and public engagement in development financing — must continue making the case for the resources required to perform this work. This includes providing data and evidence of how journalists contribute to exposing financial misconduct, identifying gaps in current processes, and offering solutions to address them.
2. Advocate for investments in digital infrastructure as part of financing for development to be transparent and based on comprehensive human rights impact assessments and risk evaluations
   As international development financing increasingly supports digital infrastructure — often in collaboration with private sector partnerships — states bear the responsibility to implement robust safeguards that protect human rights, ensure transparency, and promote accountability. We urge member states to invest in resilient, secure, affordable, inclusive, and interoperable digital financial infrastructure, prioritising the public good.