Sevilla, Spain
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this special event on the theme ¡°From Monterrey to Sevilla and Beyond.¡±
This is a timely moment to reflect on how far we have come since the first International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico, almost a quarter-century ago.
I am especially pleased to share this moment with many colleagues who have been instrumental in shaping the Financing for Development process¡ªacross decades, across institutions, and across regions.
As we gather in Sevilla for FFD4, we face a deeply challenging global landscape. Official Development Assistance are declining. Trade tensions are escalating. Debt burdens are increasing.
And the global macroeconomic outlook remains fragile, with constrained fiscal space in many developing countries. Even before these global shocks, our ambitions were in peril. Consequently, with expanding SDG financing gaps, achieving 2030 Agenda now faces more uncertainties.
Today, more than half of the Sustainable Development Goal targets are off track, and one third have stalled or even regressed.
Climate goals are also slipping further out of reach.
Dear colleagues,
We must not be too pessimistic. Sevilla represents our chance to change course.
We have come a long way to be having these discussions at the 51Ó°Ôº.
Before Monterrey, financing debates at the UN were largely confined to official development assistance. Broader discussions on hard core economic and financial issues¡ªwere often confined to less inclusive forums.
But financing affects every aspect of people¡¯s lives. It touches every goal of the 2030 Agenda.
Bringing these issues to the 51Ó°Ôº¡ªthrough the Financing for Development process¡ªwas a milestone.
It anchored financing discussions in the development agenda. And the UN¡¯s convening power made space for perspectives that were too often excluded.
Indeed, many of the most critical shifts in global finance began in this forum¡ªand later reverberated through the halls of Bretton Woods institutions and ministries of finance.
The FFD Conferences¡ªfrom Monterrey to Doha to Addis¡ªhave produced concrete gains in three key areas:
First, they mobilized new, additional, and better-quality resources.
? Following Monterrey, we saw a sustained rise in ODA.
? After Addis, we witnessed reforms in multilateral development banks through capital adequacy initiative.
? Over 80 countries are now implementing Integrated National Financing Frameworks, a concept that was born in Addis Ababa.
Second, the FFD process enhanced the inclusiveness of global financial dialogue.
? It helped bring the voices of developing countries into conversations around tax, debt, and financial regulation.
? Addis, in particular, advanced calls for a more inclusive and participatory international tax system.
Third, FFD strengthened policy coherence¡ªbringing together finance, development, and foreign ministries around shared objectives.
It elevated development finance to the political level and made the case for integrated, whole-of-government approaches.
Dear colleagues,
The Compromiso de Sevilla builds on this legacy. It is our next roadmap and yardstick.
It sets out a renewed global financing framework¡ªwith concrete actions.
But let us be clear. Even the most ambitious document is only a beginning. The success of Sevilla now depends on implementation.
It will require resolve and collaboration from all of us¡ª and especially those who have championed the FFD process since the very beginning.
Let us make its promise real¡ªfor people, for planet, and for the generations that will judge us by what we did at this pivotal juncture.
Thank you.