Barcelona, Spain — With the gap between rich and poor nations widening at an alarming pace, over 12,000 delegates including heads of state, ministers, and civil society representatives convened in Seville on Monday for the United Nations’ high-level Financing for Development conference. The event, co-hosted by the UN and Spain, aims to generate trillions in global investment and restore momentum toward achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
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Despite the absence of the United States—a former top donor now drastically scaling back humanitarian aid—leaders from Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia are rallying to confront the deepening global financing crisis. The situation is dire: debt is mounting, international aid is shrinking, trade barriers are rising, and private investment is in retreat.
“Financing is the engine of development. And right now, this engine is sputtering,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in his opening remarks. “We are here in Seville to change course—to repair and rev up the engine of development.”
This marks the first time the conference is being held in Europe. It will be officially opened by Guterres, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and King Felipe VI. High-profile participants include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The conference’s flagship outcome, the Seville Commitment, already touted by organizers as a landmark achievement, is expected to emphasize flexible financing tools and debt relief strategies—seen as essential to closing the estimated $4 trillion annual development gap.
The gathering comes at a pivotal moment. The last conference of this scale was held in Addis Ababa in 2015, coinciding with the adoption of the SDGs. With just five years left to meet those global targets, many hope Seville can deliver the political will—and financial means—to get the world back on track.
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