Top UN officials have called for urgent reforms to the international financial system to boost efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Addressing the preparatory committee (PrepComm) for the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres and Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed highlighted the persistent challenges developing nations face and the imperative for ambitious global financial reforms.
Guterres said the preparatory conference provides a unique opportunity to tackle challenges related to biased financial architecture of the world and opens the door for world leaders to adopt ambitious reforms to deliver affordable long-term financing at scale – and deliver the SDG stimulus.
“It is also an opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” he said, urging “maximum political will” to act and to rescue the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“Together, we can deliver not only a financial system – but a world – that is more just, equitable and sustainable,” he concluded.
Mohamed on her part highlighted the disheartening reality that only 17 per cent of SDGs targets are on track, pointing to severe financial constraints facing developing countries.
“Many developing countries cannot invest in their future as they struggle to meet their immediate needs: paying salaries and meeting debt service,” she said, adding that international capital is “flowing out of developing economies, rather than in”.
“The economic outlook for developing countries remains bleak while the global economy has been described as resilient – there is a soft landing in the North – but there is a crash landing in the South,”Mohamed said.
MG/as/APA