Global Development Initiative ‘Important Mechanism’ to Drive Progress on 2030 Agenda, Secretary-General Tells High-Level Meeting

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks to the high-level meeting on the Global Development Initiative, in New York today:

I thank the Government of China for hosting us under the theme "Recommit to our original aspirations, unite to build a brighter future of global development."

We gather as economic uncertainty deepens a fragile outlook - marked by fiscal constraints, geopolitical tensions, unilateral trade measures, growing fragmentation and escalating climate risk.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - our shared blueprint for a better future - face serious headwinds. Many economies have recovered only in part from the COVID-19 pandemic. Sluggish growth and weak investment threaten to widen inequalities and entrench poverty and vulnerability. Fiscal space across much of the developing world is under severe strain.

A sharp contraction in official development assistance (ODA) is making matters worse - after a 9 per cent fall in 2024, ODA is projected to decline by a further 9 to 17 per cent in 2025. This squeeze - shrinking aid, tight budgets, and tougher trade conditions - risks stalling investment in infrastructure, human capital and climate resilience. It underscores the urgent need for effective, coordinated international cooperation.

There is a pathway forward. At the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, Member States adopted the Sevilla Commitment - a comprehensive, negotiated framework to help close the $4 trillion financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Now we must translate agreement into action: scale up concessional finance, reduce the cost of capital and reform the international financial architecture.

International financial institutions, the Breton Woods and other institutions were created after the Second World War. The world was completely different, and they do not correspond at all to the needs, to the aspirations and to the real weight of the developing world in today's world. It is absolutely essential to increase the participation, both in the capital and in decision making of developing counties in international financial institutions as a reform, a necessary reform of international financial architecture.

The Global Development Initiative can be an important mechanism to help accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda around the world, and I took good note of the points expressed by the distinguished Prime Minister of China in relation to the objectives and in relation to the mechanisms put in place to make the initiative even more effective at the global level.

Its alignment with the SDGs - especially poverty eradication, food security, climate action and inclusive, equitable growth - addresses the development challenges of our time.

This meeting is a chance for renewed momentum: to confront persistent challenges head-on and forge stronger, more coordinated action to achieve our shared development goals.

Let us recommit to multilateralism rooted in solidarity and results, anchored in the UN Charter and taking profit of important initiatives like the Global Development Initiative. Let us seize this moment to shape a future that is inclusive, resilient, and sustainable - and that delivers hope and opportunity for all.