Denouncing the attacks on “multilateralism”, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday to “restart the development engine” against “climate chaos” and international conflicts, during a conference on development of development.
“Today, development and its great catalyst – international cooperation – are faced with massive opposite winds,” warned Mr. Guterres on the first day of this four -day meeting organized in Seville, Spain, struck by scorching heat.
“We live in a world where multilateralism is put to the test. A world with an economy in slow motion, increasing trade tensions and decimated aid budgets. A world shaken by inequalities, climate chaos and raging conflicts,” he continued.
In this context, it is necessary to “accelerate investments” and “relaunch the engine of development”, insisted the official of the UN, by calling the international community to invest “in the fields having the greatest impact”, like “schools” and “renewable energies”.
This meeting is held in a particularly dark context for development aid, hit hard by reducing humanitarian aid decided by Donald Trump, who abolished 83% of programs abroad of the USAID development agency.
With $ 63 billion in public aid in 2024, the United States was the main donor country for many agencies and NGOs, currently faced with significant difficulties, especially since other capitals, such as Paris and London, have also reduced their aid.
– The United States absent –
“In a world where the donor community is decreased in a dramatic and dramatic way, it is time to take a step forward,” hammered Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, calling for the Seville conference an “opportunity” to “correct” this trajectory.
It is not a question of asking for “favors” but “of equity” and “investments”, insisted President Kenyan William Ruto.
About fifty heads of state and government – including French president Emmanuel Macron and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen – participate in this so -called FFD4 conference, the fourth of its kind since 2002, alongside 4,000 representatives of civil society.
Among the absent brand are the United States, which decided in mid-June to leave the negotiating table due to a disagreement against the text submitted to delegations, accused of encroaching on their “sovereignty” and creating “duplicate” structures.
This 38 -page document, known as “Seville engagement”, offers a series of solutions for southern countries, faced according to the UN with a funding deficit estimated at 4,000 billion dollars per year “to hold their development objectives set as part of the 2030 agenda.
– “Message to powerful” –
This “will require resources on a scale and at an unprecedented rate,” warned the president of the World Bank Ajay Banga on Monday, calling on development players to mobilize in the face of “the increase in debt” and the challenges posed by climate change.
“We know that there is not enough money on the side of governments, philanthropic organizations or development institutions to respond to all promises. This is why we need the private sector,” he said.
The “Seville engagement”, formally adopted on Monday, calls for a refurbishment of international financial architecture, with a larger place granted to southern countries in financial institutions and better cooperation against tax evasion.
This document – which must be supplemented by unilateral announcements as part of a “platform for action” – will not be binding on the legal level. What annoy NGOs, which regret a lack of ambitions and solidarity on the part of the rich countries.
Answering an AFP question, Antonio Guterres recognized “resistances” at a press conference and sent a “message to the powerful”: “It is preferable for them to reform the system now rather than waiting and falling to resistances later when the balance of power will change”.
Posted on June 30 at 3:45 p.m. AFP
