Sevilla: Without Sustainable Development, There Is Neither Hope Nor Security
Development benefits all countries because it is linked to other areas of activity and society, including basic security itself. Without it, there is no hope – and no stability.
That is the key message from the Director of the UN Development Programme's Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (UNDP), Marcos Neto, to all other nations gathered in Sevilla who have signed up to the plan of action, which gets underway immediately.
The Sevilla Agreement is the centrepiece of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, and it has been adopted by 192 of the 193 UN members.
The United States withdrew citing fundamental disagreements with many policy approaches and is absent from the summit taking place amid scorching temperatures in the southern city of Sevilla, Spain.
No lack of money
In his interview during the conference, we asked Mr. Neto to explain in plain language what the Seville Commitment is all about.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Marcos Neto: We are five years away from the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. One of the biggest obstacles to this shared agenda of global solidarity is financing. In other words: where is the money? Where will the money come from?
The Sevilla Commitment is a document that makes it clear that this is not about a lack of money – it's about aligning public and private capital flows toward those Goals, toward the Paris Agreement, and toward all other international commitments.
The commitment outlines what to do with every kind of money – national, international, public, and private. It is a roadmap that was agreed upon through consensus among UN Member States, involving the private sector, civil society, and philanthropy.
UN News: One of the major absences at this Conference was the United States, which left the negotiations on the Undertaking. How did Washington's withdrawal influence the Conference?
Marcos Neto: A consensus among 192 countries was reached and approved here. Now, clearly, the United States is one of the world's largest economies and holds significant weight. I believe it's crucial to keep the dialogue open and continue engaging all Member States, each according to their own needs.
For example, development financing is directly linked to security. Without development, you cannot have a stable society – one without conflict. What's your level of poverty? What's your level of inequality? Development is a security strategy. Development is hope. A people without hope is a people in trouble.
UN News: In conferences like this, documents are adopted, but often people feel they are just empty words that don't really affect their daily lives. What would you say to those citizens to convince them that these decisions actually make a difference?
Marcos Neto: I'll give you a very clear example. At the last Conference on Financing for Development ten years ago in Addis Ababa, there was a phrase that envisioned the creation of what we now call Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs). We at UNDP developed this concept in 86 countries. This is real: 47 billion dollars were aligned and mobilized through that mechanism.
50 billion dividend
So, in practice, I can say we have helped put more than 50 billion dollars into the hands of countries. We've also helped them reform their national budget processes so that the money reaches where it's supposed to go.
Our current commitment is to implement the Seville Commitment. We are committed to delivering on it.
From Seville to Belém
UN News: In addition, the Sevilla Platform for Action will also serve to implement various initiatives…
Marcos Neto: Yes, we are leading 11 of the initiatives under the Seville Platform, and I think it was a great move by the Government of Spain to have created this action platform in Sevilla to turn this into implementation.
It's very similar to what Brazil wants to do at the end of the year at COP30. There is a direct connection between Seville and Belém – the host city of the UN Climate Change Summit in Brazil later this year. These connections are important.
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