UN Secretary-General urges urgent action on debt, multilateral banks and financing gaps ahead of Seville conference

The Secretary-General of the United Nations told the ECOSOC Forum that donors are withdrawing aid and that the global financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals is deepening, and he urged member states and financial institutions to act ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville.

"This year's ECOSOC Forum comes at a pivotal time," the Secretary-General said, urging negotiators to use the conference to respond to what he called "harsh truths" including falling aid, new trade barriers and "prohibitively high borrowing costs" that are undermining public investment.

He said the sustainable development goals are "dramatically off track," citing an estimated annual financing gap of $4,000,000,000,000. On debt, he warned that debt service for developing economies has risen past $1,400,000,000,000 a year and now exceeds 10% of government revenue in more than 50 developing countries and more than 20% in 17 countries. "The Sevilla conference should emerge with a commitment by member states to lower the cost of borrowing, improve debt restructuring and prevent [vulture] scribe from taking hold," he said (transcript wording: "prevent scribe from taking hold").

The speech set out three priority areas for action. First, debt: the secretary-general said debt must be managed "smartly and fairly" and called for a dedicated facility to help developing countries manage liabilities and enhance liquidity in crises. He also urged the G20 to speed up the common framework for debt treatments and to expand support to countries currently ineligible for some arrangements, including some middle-income countries. He called on credit-rating agencies to rethink methodologies that increase borrowing costs for developing countries.

Second, he urged that multilateral development banks be strengthened. "We will keep pushing to triple the lending capacity of multilateral development banks," he said, calling for recapitalization, balance-sheet measures and greater capacity to mobilize private finance at reasonable cost for developing countries. He also stressed that concessional finance should be targeted "when it's most needed" and that developing countries have fair representation in the institutions' governance.

Third, he called for concrete measures to increase all streams of finance. At the national level he urged governments to strengthen domestic resource mobilization and direct funds toward education, health and infrastructure, and to scale up efforts against corruption and illicit financial flows. At the global level he urged work on an "inclusive and effective global tax regime," that donors meet official-development-assistance commitments, and that the United Nations deploy country teams to channel resources toward sustainable development. He also urged leaders to identify innovative sources of climate finance.

Throughout the address the secretary-general cited forecasts and assessments by international organizations including the International Monetary Fund, UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization as evidence that rising trade barriers are harming global prospects. He framed financing for development as central to the future of multilateral cooperation, saying it is "a matter of our conviction of the power of global solutions to global problems like poverty, hunger, and the climate crisis." He closed by urging negotiators to seek an ambitious outcome in Seville.

No formal votes or decisions were recorded in the forum excerpt provided; the remarks were addressed to the president of the General Assembly and the president of ECOSOC and were presented as guidance and advocacy rather than legally binding commitments.