UN conference in Seville: Development financing before collapse!

UN conference in Seville: Development financing before collapse!

Sevilla, Spanien - On June 30, 2025, the fourth UN Conference for Development Financing began in Sevilla, in which around 50 heads of state and government took part. The UN Secretary General António Guterres called on to revive development financing. A striking feature of the conference was the lack of a US delegation. This was considered 象徴 Isch for the withdrawal of the United States from international development cooperation. US President Donald Trump has deleted over 80 percent of the funding for the US Development Aid Authority USAID, which has increased the situation considerably. In 2023, the United States was the largest donor in development cooperation with around $ 65 billion.

The effects of the cuts are already noticeable. European countries, including Germany, France and Great Britain, have also reduced their developmental money. Despite the fact that the financial needs of poorer developing countries, this has increased by more than a third since 2015. According to estimates, the funding gap for global development aid is almost 6.17 billion euros. Experts warn that development aid will experience the greatest decline ever in 2025. Austria reduced the budgets for development cooperation for both 2025, with a reduction by five million to 133.6 million euros, as well as for 2026, with only 114 million euros.

the "commitment of Sevilla"

A central goal of the conference was the discussion about the future financing of aid programs. As part of these talks, the UN member states want to decide on a new agreement on development financing, which is known as a "commitment of Sevilla". This confirms the project to reach the 17 UN sustainability goals by 2030. The agreement is reached without the participation of the United States that did not send a delegation to Seville.

The development minister of Germany, Reem Alabali Radovan, led the German delegation, which planned a development aid in the amount of 10.3 billion euros in the budget draft for 2025, which means a decrease of 0.9 billion euros compared to the previous year. Auxiliary and development organizations express great concerns about the effectiveness of the draft, since it is regarded as an unconcrete and insufficient for the closure of the financing gap.

The challenges of development financing

The Agenda 2030 and the Paris climate agreement adopted by the United Nations are intended to offer long -term solutions for human coexistence and make them more fairly. The half -time balance of the 2030 Agenda shows that low -income countries remain significantly due to socio -economic goals, mainly due to a lack of development financing. Crises, such as Covid pandemic and various conflicts, have further cut the financial resources and increase the need.

The conference in Seville comes at a critical moment in which urgently innovative financing solutions and an increased exchange with countries in the global south are required. Austria, represented by Nikolaus Marschik, strives to develop ideas that make this exchange easier. However, experts are critical of the final document of the conference, which is considered little ambitious and non -binding. In this context, the organization Germanwatch calls for a solidarity tax for environmentally harmful industries as an additional means of financing important development aids.

The global development is on the crossroads, and the conference in Seville could be crucial for whether and how these challenges can be addressed.