UN calls for measures to close finance divide

Addis Ababa, April 19, 2023 (FBC) – The United Nation (UN), inequality has called on global financial actors to take bold measures to close finance divide amid a global crisis of economic.

The call was made during the UN ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development at UN Headquarters in New York to urgently set in place concrete measures to scale up financing for the Sustainable Development goals, the pathway to a more inclusive, prosperous and stable world.

“One recent report on inequality found that since the pandemic, the richest one per cent of people around the world have captured nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world combined,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General. “Inequalities within some countries are regressing towards early 20th century levels – to a time before women were allowed to vote; and before widespread acceptance of the concept of social protection. This shames us all.” he added.

According to ECA, the Forum echoes the call for an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion a year, launched by the UN Secretary-General in February 2023, to scale up affordable long-term financing for countries in need.

“In the longer term, we will not solve today’s challenges by relying on the financial system that helped to cause them. The global financial architecture was created for a world that no longer exists. It cannot address the challenges faced today by developing countries,” said the UN Chief.

Deliberations at the Forum focus on taxation, food and commodities, bolstering private sector investment in developing countries and climate financing for adaptation among other areas.

Established as a part of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the ECOSOC FfD Forum is an annual intergovernmental event mandated to review the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and other financing for development outcomes to advance the implementation of the SDGs.