The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain, organised by the United Nations, was convened for revitalising financing for sustainable development across the globe.
But the meeting took place in the face of severe headwinds. The United States was absent, having made its intentions clear by severely cutting aid commitments and several major economies, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, also announced aid reductions.
Clear indications are that the Seville Conference will instead rely on mobilising private investment, blended finance and public-private partnerships, which have not historically yielded great results.
Non profit ActionAid’s Secretary General, Arthur Larok, speaking from Seville, said, “It is sad to realise that despite the call by the UN Secretary-General for solutions to the unsustainable, unfair and unaffordable global debt system, a few Global North countries effectively shut that door by blocking a UN Framework Convention on Debt in the final text. This resolution, championed by African countries and civil society, would have initiated the process of ending the debt crisis and the re-establishment of a transformative global financial system.
Larok said that International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) denial of the ongoing systemic debt crisis, although disappointing, is not surprising. “Many Global South countries are in a debt crisis by the IMF’s own terms, with most spending more on debt servicing than on health and education. But the IMF seems to only consider it a crisis when creditors don’t get paid — for them, it is not a crisis if people in the Global South die,” he stated.