The widely anticipated Financing for Development conference in Sevilla, Spain, is still two weeks away — but is it about to be torpedoed before it even begins? We have the exclusive details.
Also in today’s edition: American farmers pay the price of foreign aid cuts.
Unsustainable opposition?
How much progress can the world make on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals when the U.S. government openly rejects them? Or when other Western governments oppose the kind of debt relief that global south countries persistently seek?
We’re about to find out at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, or FfD4. The gathering is a big deal, potentially unleashing a flood of finance for global south countries drowning in debt and starved of foreign assistance.
But there are big roadblocks.
The Trump administration opposes the very concept of the conference, which is being convened to channel trillions of dollars in financing for development programs aimed at eliminating poverty. Washington doesn’t want the final document to acknowledge a current $4 trillion annual funding gap for achieving the SDGs, my colleague Colum Lynch writes in his report, which has exclusive details on the Trump administration’s various points of contention.
The U.S. even opposes the mere reference to “sustainable development” in a final political declaration, preferring “responsible development.”
“We reiterate that each country has primary responsibility for its own economic growth and that the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized,” the U.S. proposed in an amendment to the negotiating document, one of 400 (you heard that right) amendments.
Perhaps the biggest sticking point is a push by countries in the global south, particularly in Africa, to establish a legally binding treaty on sovereign debt that would give them a louder voice in international negotiations on debt restructuring. Other Western governments are resisting debt cancellation and relief proposals in the document, Colum writes, setting the stage for a potential north-south clash.
“The debt issue,” predicts Minh-thu Pham, the co-founder and CEO of Project Starling, will likely determine “whether this agreement gets over the finish line.”
But that doesn’t mean negotiations will necessarily blow up. Even if the White House stands in the way, Pham says many countries appear willing to adopt the final declaration without the U.S., noting it might be better to have a stronger commitment to development than one watered down by an administration that may ultimately abandon the process anyway.
“The ones who would probably fret the most about it are those who still think there is U.S. leadership to be had on development,” she says. “I think most of the world has moved on.”
Exclusive: US seeks to gut UN development goals
ICYMI: What is Financing for Development 4 and why is it a big deal? (Pro)
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On message
Li Junhua, the secretary-general of FfD4, admits the outcome document is ambitious, but argues that’s exactly what’s needed to clinch this historic moment.
“FfD4 is a chance to adopt concrete, actionable measures that bridge the financing gap, ignite a targeted SDG investment push, and reform the international financial architecture to make it fit for today’s challenges,” he writes in an opinion piece for Devex, outlining specific ways to accomplish this. Among them:
• Strengthen the domestic resource base of low- to middle-income countries. “FfD4 could establish an indicative target floor for tax revenue at 15% of gross domestic product,” Li writes.
• Commit the international community to provide more debt swaps, credit enhancements, and other tools to enlarge LMICs’ fiscal space.
• Triple the lending capacity of multilateral development banks. This includes strengthening collaboration among all development banks — national, regional, and multilateral — to leverage the entire ecosystem.
“This is an ambitious agenda, and one that will take significant political will to deliver,” Li writes. “But this is precisely what is needed.”
Opinion: In Sevilla, we can deliver a game changer for development finance
ICYMI: Can multilateral development banks step up to meet the moment? (Pro)
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Plowed under
“You are hit right now by so many headwinds … that you are about to become roadkill for this administration’s policy.”
— U.S. Sen. Amy KlobucharAmong the headwinds the Democratic senator from Minnesota was referring to: U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, market volatility, and the elimination of USAID. The roadkill she was referring to? America’s farmers.
That’s because Trump’s foreign aid cuts don’t just impact millions abroad; they hit close to home as well.
American farmers supply roughly 40% of international food assistance — including nearly $2 billion annually in commodities. They also benefit from aid-funded research led by U.S. universities on disease prevention and climate-resilient agriculture.
Klobuchar — along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire — convened the forum of agriculture and aid experts on Capitol Hill last Thursday to spotlight how the elimination of key food and agriculture aid programs is already affecting both the United States and its global partners, my colleague Ayenat Mersie writes.
The discussion raised the issue of food aid sitting idle in warehouses.
“So the food is there, the need is there … and we can’t deliver it?” asked Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont.
Sarah Charles, former assistant to the administrator at USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, confirmed that account: “It’s certainly my understanding that the career staff that are left at USAID have been working furiously around the clock, even knowing that they’ve been fired, to find ways to get that food into the hands of partners that can use that food.”
The panel examined impacts on long-running, historically bipartisan programs such as Food for Peace, McGovern-Dole, and Feed the Future. Asked at a press gaggle whether she thought any of the programs discussed during the event could still be saved, Klobuchar said that was the point of the event: “We wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t.”
Read: US farmers ‘about to become roadkill’ under Trump food aid cuts, senators warn
On second thought
Just hours after the food forum concluded, the House of Representatives narrowly voted to pass a rescissions package to codify billions of dollars in foreign aid cuts that the Trump administration has already made.
That package claws back $8.3 billion in previously approved foreign assistance and now heads to the Senate.
If approved, the U.S. would rescind $900 million in global health spending alone, while slashing billions of dollars for disaster assistance, development aid, United Nations agencies, and more, my colleague Elissa Miolene writes.
“My friends on the other side of the aisle would like you to believe, seriously, that if you don’t use your taxpayer dollars to fund this absurd list of projects — and thousands of others that I didn’t even list — that somehow, people will die,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, after reeling off a laundry list of programs he disagreed with. “Let’s just reject that now. The White House is right to send out this rescissions package. This should be just step one.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, hit back, arguing that tens of thousands of people have already died as a result of USAID’s dismantling — a rate of 103 lives an hour, according to one study. “I’d like to think that America’s greatness comes from our humanity,” McGovern said. “Well, it’s clear that Republicans believe that America’s greatness is found in our inhumanity, cruelty, and callousness. And I believe everyone can agree that’s a truly dark, dangerous, and morally bankrupt place to govern from.”
Read: House approves Trump's $8.3 billion clawback of US foreign aid
In other news
The U.N. summit on finding a potential two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian territories this week has been postponed, following Israel’s recent attacks on Iran. [Reuters]
The Asian Development Bank is set to review its energy policy and could follow the World Bank’s lead to lift a ban on funding nuclear energy to meet growing demands and climate commitments. [Financial Times]
U.N. special rapporteur Michael Fakhri urged the U.N. General Assembly to authorize sending armed peacekeepers to protect aid convoys in conflict zones such as Gaza and Sudan amid attacks and concerns about the weaponization of aid. [The Guardian]
American negotiators proposed hundreds of amendments aimed at reversing prior commitments to achieving U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.Hundreds of amendments, proposed by American negotiators, sought to reverse earlier commitments made toward the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
