This article is published in association with United Nations.

From rising debt and shrinking investment, to the aid funding crisis and struggles to meet ambitious development goals, the global financial system is failing the people it’s supposed to serve: fixing that is the challenge facing world leaders gathered in Spain’s sweltering southern jewel of Sevilla this week, as the UN’s 4th International Conference on Financing for Development gets underway. Follow our live Meetings Coverage below; app users can catch all the action from the opening session here and you’ll find all related stories on our special dedicated page right here.

The Fourth United Nations Conference on Financing for Development begins in Sevilla, Spain.  Today 04:34 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Conference Holds Multi-stakeholder Round Table on Mobilizing and Aligning Domestic Public Resources  

The Conference holds its first multi-stakeholder round table this afternoon on “Mobilizing and aligning domestic public resources”.  Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, will give opening remarks.

Co-Chaired by Alar Karis, President of Estonia, and Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Vice-President of Sierra Leone, it will feature a special address Daniel Noboa Azin, President Ecuador.  Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, will give a keynote address.  

Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), will moderate the discussion.  Panellists will include:  José Manuel Albares Bueno, Minister for Foreign Affairs for  European Union and Cooperation of Spain; Reem Alabali Radovan, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany; Cheikh Diba, Minister for Finance and Budget of Senegal; and Nigel Clarke, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Nadia Calvino, President of the European Investment Bank, and Yingming Yang, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank, will be the discussants.   Today 03:11 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Multilateralism Will Survive ‘as Long as We Work Together’, European Union’s Speaker Says, Stressing Bloc’s Commitment to Reform Global Financial System

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 “Our commitment is here to stay.” –  Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said, pledging the bloc’s commitment to reform the international financial architecture and mobilize new sources of financing. 

As the Sustainable Development Goals financing gap is in the trillions of dollars, a “change of paradigm” is needed to close it — and that, she said, is “exactly what Europe aims to deliver”.

António Costa, President of the European Council — speaking for the European Union and its Member States — pointed out that the bloc provides 42 per cent of official development assistance (ODA), totalling €95 billion in 2023.  Today 01:58 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Financing Model Taking into Accounting Africa’s Priorities ‘Fundamental and Urgent” to Do Justice to Continent’s Development Concerns, African Group’s Speaker Says 

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“We should engage in a profound reflection on the reforms required in the international financial system, wherein those most in need must have an active role and be included in decision-making processes.” – João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of Angola, speaking for the African Group

“Only with these conditions assured will it be possible to realize the goals set forth in the aforementioned development agendas, thereby preventing the Sustainable Development Goals from becoming merely a declaration of good intentions.” 

He also spotlighted the issue of Africa’s debt, which “acts as a brake on development” and “consumes more resources than those allocated to health and education combined”.  Still, he said he is “confident” that the conference will adopt decisions that will reduce the costs of indebtedness and strengthen African countries’ influence in global financial governance.Today 01:45 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Sevilla Commitment Must Serve as Foundation to Address Systemic Imbalances in Global Economic, Financial System, Group of 77 and China’s Speaker Says 

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“We support this document as a balanced, constructive and forward-looking framework that reflects the collective aspiration to scale up efforts in mobilizing financing for sustainable development, particularly for developing countries.” – Abdul Latif Rashid, President of Iraq, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China

Stressing that the document must “ensure that the voices, needs and priorities of developing countries are meaningfully addressed”, he reiterated the centrality of North-South cooperation, adding:  “South-South cooperation is a complement, not a substitute.”  

He also underscored the need to strengthen domestic resource mobilization, improve the international tax system, reform the international financial architecture, ensure fair representation of developing countries in international financial institutions and eliminate all unilateral economic, financial or trade measures against developing countries, among others. Today 01:17 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

World Leaders Adopt ‘Sevilla Commitment’ Outcome Document 

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World leaders unanimously adopt “Sevilla Commitment” outcome document (document A/CONF.227/2025/L.1), recommending that the General Assembly endorse it at its seventy-ninth session. 

By the terms of the document, Heads of State and Government and high representatives commit to a renewed global financing for development framework and action in three key areas. 

The first area – domestic public resources – includes access to financing, remittances and correspondent banking relationships; international development cooperation and development effectiveness; international development cooperation and development effectiveness; debt and debt sustainability; and international financial architecture and systemic issues.   

The second area is science, technology, innovation and capacity-building, and the third is data, monitoring and follow-up. Today 12:35 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

As World Economy’s Strength is Tested, IMF Working to Make Developing Countries’ Economies More Resilient, Vibrant, Deputy Managing Director Says 

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Nigel Clarke, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, called for broadening the tax base, building strong financial management systems, coordinating support and addressing debt sustainability.

“Many countries continue to struggle with high interest costs,” he said, calling on the international community to improve debt restructuring processes.  

Through its capacity development, the Fund is equipping members to chart their own paths and is also providing financial support when they need it most, he said.  The Fund provides technical support to individual debt restructuring to help countries achieve economic and financial stability – a prerequisite for them to achieve their development potential.

“Simply put:  the IMF will continue to help our members achieve economic and financial stability — a prerequisite for reaching their development objectives.  And as we work together this week, we will remain a trusted partner and champion for the international development agenda. Together, we can help bring our members towards a brighter future.”  Today 12:31 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

After Increasing Rich Countries’ Incomes, Lifting 1.5 Billion Out of Poverty in Developing World, Global Trading System Now ‘Severely Disrupted’, WTO Director Warns

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Amid unilateral tariff measures and record levels of policy uncertainty, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has estimated that global merchandise trade volumes for the year will be “basically flat”, growing by 0.1 per cent, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, said. 

Outlining steps needed to bolster global trade’s stability, she cited the value of cooperative solutions rather than unilateral approaches.  “But, at the same time, we also need to ask:  ‘How did we get here?’”, she said, stressing the need to respond to legitimate criticisms and reposition of the WTO. 

“We must not waste this crisis,” she added, calling for more regional trade agreements and foreign investment to countries and communities on the margins of the global economy.

 “We have large amounts of financing locked up in harmful subsidies,” she said, noting that almost $2 trillion is locked up in harmful or wasteful fossil fuel agriculture, water and fisheries subsidies.  Repurposing even some of these subsidies would “put a lot of the resources we need in our hands”, she pointed out.Today 12:00 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Despite Progress, Development ‘And Its Great Enabler — International Cooperation’ — Face Massive Headwinds, UN Secretary-General António Guterres Warns

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“We are living in a world where trust is fraying and multilateralism is strained.  A world with a slowing economy, rising trade tensions, and decimated aid budgets.  A world shaken by inequalities, climate chaos and raging conflicts,” he warned. 

Pointing out “the link between peace and development is clear”, he said that 9 of the 10 countries with the lowest human-development indicators are currently in a state of conflict.  Further, two thirds of the SDGs are lagging, and achieving them requires an investment of more than $4 trillion a year.   “But, this is not just a crisis of numbers,” he observed — “It’s a crisis of people.”   

The Sevilla Commitment is a “global promise to fix how the world supports countries as they climb the development ladder,” he added, spotlighting three areas of action — getting resources flowing, fixing the global debt system and increasing developing countries’ participation in global financial institutions.   The conference is not about “charity” or “money” — it is about “investments in the future that we wish to build together”.Today 12:00 μ.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Estimated $4 Trillion Financing Gap for Achieving Sustainable Development, ‘Not Path to Justice’, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President of Spain, Says

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“That is not the path to sustainable development, it is the path to injustice,” he said.  This summit is an opportunity to change course and “raise our voice in the face of those who seek to convince us that rivalry and competition set the tone for the future of humanity”.  The Sevilla commitment should renew and take the legacy of Addis Ababa further.   

“In a world in which the donor community is shrinking drastically, the time has come to step forward,” he stressed, calling on leaders to improve debt sustainability, ensure tax justice, deliver development aid, reform financial architecture and bolster trust.  

“We have to keep the flame alive and believe in it.  […]  There is no North and no South, there is just one humanity,” he said.  Today 11:26 π.μ.

Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Don Felipe VI, King of Spain, Opens Financing for Development Conference in Sevilla, Spain 

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“Let us make the Seville Conference a new milestone in the development agenda. We owe it to the generation of our parents and grandparents, and also to that of our children and grandchildren.”  – Don Felipe VI, King of Spain

“And we owe it to all those who lack the voice and energy to cry out for a better, more just world.  For them, for us, sustainable development is a cause that we must never give up.”