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Massive investment and financial reform needed to rescue the SDGs
Presenting the latest UN report about the subject, Amina Mohammed called for “an increase in investment” and reform of the international financial system to rescue the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) that are woefully off track.
World leaders adopted the 17 SDGs almost a decade ago and they include ending extreme poverty and hunger, ensuring the availability of safe water and sanitation, and reducing inequality within and between countries.
‘Finances are the crucial point’
“At our current rates, we estimate that around 600 million people will continue to live in extreme poverty beyond 2030. And as the report shows, finances are at the heart of the problem,” said Mohammed, speaking at UN headquarters in New York.
O 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report says urgent action is needed to mobilize large-scale finance to close the development finance gap, now estimated at $4.2 billion annually, up from $2.5 billion before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions, climate catastrophes and a global cost-of-living crisis have hit billions of people, undermining progress in health care, education and other development goals.
Drowning in debt
The huge debt burden and rising borrowing costs are big contributors to the crisis of sustainable development.
Estimates are that in least developed countries, debt service will be $40 billion annually between 2023 and 2025, an increase of more than 50 percent compared to $26 billion in 2022. Stronger and more frequent weather conditions are responsible for more than half of the increase in debt in least developed countries. vulnerable countries.
Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed said that around 40 percent of the global population, some 3.3 billion people live in countries where governments now spend more on interest payments than on education or health.
However, the global economy does not support investment and development as it should, she noted. Average growth rates have steadily declined over the past 25 years, from more than six percent before the global financial crisis more than 15 years ago to around four percent today.
Reform the obsolete financial system
The report calls for increased public and private investment in the SDGs, highlighting the importance of reforming the development banking system.
In this regard, donors also need to meet commitments on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and climate finance.
Secondly, the current international financial architecture – established almost 80 years ago – must also be remade as it stands.”no longer fit for purpose,” she said, and developing countries should have a stronger voice in global economic governance.
Close ‘credibility gaps’
Finally, world leaders must close “credibility gaps” and trust deficits. This is especially the case for wealthier nations, which have made promises about global governance reform, aid delivery and domestic reforms to combat corruption and inequality, including gender inequality.
Stating that the message of the report could not be clearer, Ms. Mohammed said “we must choose now either we succeed together or we fail together”, emphasizing that “failure is not an option”.
The report also encourages governments to make the most of the “significant opportunities that lie ahead,” she added, pointing to major conferences like Future Summit at UN headquarters in September and Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development scheduled for next year.
The Summit was described as a unique opportunity to strengthen cooperation on critical challenges and fill gaps in global governance, and to reaffirm commitments, particularly with the SDGs.