UN Pleads With World Leaders To Support Poor Countries, Combat Poverty, Hunger

The United Nations secretary general Antonio Gutierrez is appealing to developed countries not to shut the door of finance to poor and struggling economies by withholding crucial funds needed to stimulate economic development

In a message at the opening of the 4th International Conference for Finance and Development in Sevilla, Spain, Gutierrez warned that lives are at stake and there is greater need for international support to combat global poverty and hunger

However, the UN notes that the progress achieved so far in getting more children into school and expanding opportunities for women and girls as well as strengthening social safety nets are under threat as international cooperation seems to be slowing down

According to him, “We are living in a world where trust is fraying and multilateralism is strained. A world with a slowing economy, rising trade tensions, and decimated aid budgets. A world shaken by inequalities, climate chaos and raging conflicts”

With nine out of the ten countries with the lowest Human Development Indicatorscurrently in a state of conflict, Guiterrez is worried that financingwhich is the engine of development is sputtering.

Alarmingly, this has greatly affected the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with only two-thirds of SDG’s at risk of being unattainable with 5 years to the target dateline

The UN states that about $4 trillion a year investment is what is needed to reverse what it describes as “a crisis of people” .

“We are here in Sevilla to change course. To repair and rev up the engine of development to accelerate investment at the scale and speed required.And to restore a measure of fairness and justice for all”.

The Sevilla Commitment document is a call for rich nations to double their aid and urgently mobilize global resources for poor countries, majority of them in the global south; while poor countries are expected to lead by mobilizing domestic resources and investing in areas of greatest impact such as schools, health care, social protection, decent work, and renewable energy.

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The United Nations also wants poor countries to strengthen their tax systems, tackle illicit financial flows and tax evasion and dedicate a greater portion of their tax revenues tokey areas of need.

Gutierrez expects that this should not be an effort of governments alone, rather, multilateral and national development banks must unite to finance major investments through “innovative financing solutions to unlock private capital.Solutions that mitigate currency risks”.

The world body is also advocating the need to fix the global debt system which it says is unsustainable, unfair and unaffordable.

Annual debt service of indebted countries is put at $1.4 trillion. To address this, the UN is proposing a system that lowers borrowing costs, enables fair and timely debt-restructuring, andprevents debt crises in the first place.

(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)