UN General Secretary António Guterres speaks of massive headwind when he looks at the current situation of international cooperation. “We live in a world in which trust disappears and multilateralism is under pressure,” he says on Monday at the opening of the fourth UN conference to finance development aid in Sevilla. Representatives of almost all Member States of the UN sit in the plenum and listen to the Secretary General. Delegations from Russia and China sit in the crowd, France is even represented by President Macron. State and government heads have otherwise come from the global south. Only one Member State has officially announced its absence: the United States got out of the conference only weeks before the conference.
The final document, which was adopted on Monday, was negotiated for over a year. Now the UN General Assembly is still missing. At the conference, the “commitment of Sevilla” is rather a promise or starting shot, because you are looking for concrete commitments in vain. Reform processes are to be initiated, initiatives are started, working groups are set up. The financial system for development aid is to be reformed, it says. For example, it is about the high debt of countries with low incomes and loopholes in the various tax systems.
“Time runs away”
The “Agenda 2030” for achieving the 17 goals for sustainable development (SDGS) is also confirmed in the final document. The states again promise – as already officially decided in 2015 – that poverty and inequality end, the planet protected and health, justice and prosperity for all people are to be ensured by 2030. However, there is a financing gap in developing countries of around four trillion dollars annually, i.e. around 3.5 trillion euros, it is said. The compromise is also a warning: the progress to achieve the SDGs by 2030 would be “far behind expectations”. “Time runs away from us.”
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is considered a success that a compromise was achieved with the final document. The German delegation is led by development minister Reem Alabali Radovan (SPD). “It shows that international cooperation continues to work that the global community is able to act,” she says after acceptance in the plenary hall. The document promises the striving for a sustainable and just world. Even though the signs were “anything but cheap” before the conference. Alabali Radovan speaks of the “difficult world situation”, great humanitarian crises, narrow budgets – and the USA that withdraw from development financing.
The United States was the most important donor
The retreat of the United States and the stamping of the Authority for Development Aid USAID have thrown a shadow to the conference. The deputy general secretary of the UN, Amina J. Mohammed, had already described the situation as dramatic and catastrophic before the start. “We are still in the process of catching up the direct consequences.” According to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has provided a quarter of global state development aid in recent years. Washington was the most important international donor.
According to OECD Germany, the United Kingdom and France follow. They also reduced their budgets for development aid last year – and this year there were sometimes even sharper cuts. According to the budget draft from the past week, around one billion euros is planned for the BMZ, i.e. 17 percent less than in 2024.
These cuts had already emerged during the traffic light government. For humanitarian aid that is located in the Federal Foreign Office, there are still more drastic cuts. The OECD report speaks of a precedent, since all four of the most important donor countries have now shortened development aid in two consecutive years. For 2025, the organization expects a decline from nine to 17 percent of global state aid. She assumes that this is a “systemic change” reflecting that will be felt far over the current year.
Some experts are currently talking about a potential system change in development aid. The Federal Government’s coalition agreement can also be found in an upcoming realignment in Germany: Development policy is “at the same time leading to value and interest”, it says. “We need fundamental changes in development policy that have to reproduce and shape current geopolitical and economic realities more gently,” it says. After that, three priorities of the Federal Government are mentioned in economic cooperation and development: access to raw materials, fighting causes of flight and cooperation in the energy sector. Separated from the focus, the contract then states that one would also get involved in the fight against poverty, hunger and inequality.
Development Minister Alabali Radovan explains in Seville that from now on economic cooperation will play a highlighted role – so it means less focus on development. Nevertheless, you stand for global responsibility, she confirms. Now start a process: “How can we make our cooperation efficient with fewer funds?” For this purpose, individual instruments, topics and regions would be re -evaluated. According to the minister, there will not be a departure from multilateralism in development aid: With the elimination of the United States, Germany as one of the most important donors can take on a leading role, she says. “We want to use it more strategically.” Some countries were looking for more orientation, they wanted to give.
Over fifty years ago, the UN General Assembly issued the goal that industrial countries should spend 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product for development aid. Germany had reached the quota for the first time in 2016, according to the OECD data, and then annually between 2020 and 2023. Today, this goal has been as far away as it has not been in ten years. At that time, the last UN conference to finance development aid in Addis Ababa took place. “The Spirit of Addis” was borne by the hope of the “Agenda 2030”. You are also far from that in Seville. “As a development minister,” emphasizes Alabali Radovan, “there is still 0.7 percent as an international signal.” It is questionable what Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) would say. Despite the invitation, he did not come.
