Dozens of top politicians and more than 4,000 representatives from the areas of economy, civil society and financial institutions came to the Spanish city to find new impulses in the field of development financing by Thursday. The German delegation is headed by development minister Alibali Radovan.
The United States has not sent a delegation to Spain – which symbolically stands for the withdrawal of the United States from international development cooperation. President Donald Trump has deleted more than 80 percent of the funding for the US Development Aid Authority.
The US cuts are particularly drastic because the USA has been one of the largest donors so far. But other rich countries such as Germany, France and Great Britain have also reduced their developmental funds – among other things because they massively start up their defense budgets.
At the opening of the conference, UN General Secretary Guterres said that two thirds of the United Nations’ goals for sustainable development set for 2030 were in line and that more than four trillion dollars would have to be invested annually to achieve them. The crisis in international aid means that children are not vaccinated, girls broke school and suffered hunger.
Guterres called on to “add the development engine again in” inequalities, climate chaos and raging conflicts. Guterres said: “We live in a world in which trust crumbles and the multilateralism is exposed to a hard test”. It is important to “speed up” investments in development.
One of the most important discussion points is a reform of the international financial regulations to help poorer countries reduce their growing debt burden, which hinders progress in the areas of health and education.
Already at a preparatory meeting at the UN in New York, all participating countries except the USA had agreed on a draft for the obligation of Seville. This was officially decided on Monday. It confirms the use for global sustainability targets such as eliminating extreme poverty and hunger.
In addition, a redesign of the international financial architecture is required, whereby the countries of the south in the financial institutions are to be granted more weight and the collaboration is to be improved in combating tax evasion. In the document, the development banks are also asked to triple their lending capacity. Lendingers should also ensure predictable financing for important social spending.
Development Minister Alabali Radovan said “despite the difficult world situation, the conflicts and nationalist tendencies” delay “almost all states. However, the financing of the global sustainability goals is by no means secured. “Now it’s about using the power of this conference and forging further alliances,” continued the SPD politician.
Coalitions of countries want to endeavor to advance further initiatives in addition to the non -legally binding obligation of Seville. Criticism of the text came from activists. They described him as too little ambitious and warned of increasing global inequality.
