Sevilla: A new mechanism offering debt-distressed countries a way to coordinate action and amplify their voice in the global financial system has been launched at the UN's pivotal sustainable development conference in Sevilla. The Borrowers Forum is being hailed as a milestone in efforts to reform the international debt architecture, supported by the UN and emerging as a key part of the Sevilla Commitment outcome document.
According to EMM, this initiative is seen as a real plan driven by countries to create a shared voice and strategy in confronting debt challenges. Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, emphasized that the initiative is not just talk but execution. Zambia's Foreign Minister, Mulambo Haimbe, expressed his country's willingness to host an early meeting, highlighting the forum's potential to foster long-term partnerships, mutual respect, and shared responsibility.
Spain's Finance Minister, Carlos Cuerpo, described the current debt crisis as silent but urgent, likening the forum to a "Sevilla moment" akin to the creation of the Paris Club of creditors nearly 70 years ago. UN Special Envoy on financing the 2030 Agenda, Mahmoud Mohieldin, stated that the forum was a direct response to a system that has isolated debtor countries for too long.
The launch of the Borrowers Forum comes at a time of rising debt distress across the developing world. The commitment, known in Spanish as the Compromiso de Sevilla, was adopted by consensus at the conference and includes a cluster of commitments on sovereign debt reform.
However, civil society groups sharply criticized the adopted outcome in Sevilla, calling it a missed opportunity to deliver meaningful reform of a global debt system that is crippling many developing nations. Jason Braganza of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) said the final outcome document fell far short of what was needed.
Braganza praised the leadership of the African Group and the Alliance of Small Island States, which fought for a UN Framework Convention on sovereign debt. Although that ambition was not fully realized, he welcomed a small breakthrough in the form of a new intergovernmental process that could lay the groundwork for future reform.
Civil society leaders also warned of the dangers of so-called debt-for-climate swaps, calling them false solutions that fail to provide genuine fiscal space for developing nations. Tove Ryding of the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) echoed those concerns, highlighting the progress made on a new UN Tax Convention as proof that determined countries can bring about real change.
