Excellencies,
It is a great pleasure to address the 10th Retreat of the Group of Friends of Monterrey. I regret not being able to join you in person due to prior commitments.
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) was a major achievement. Its success has resonated well beyond the development finance community. It served as a strong signal of support for multilateralism, providing renewed momentum for global action at a time when many are questioning its value.
However, for FfD4 to have a lasting impact, we need tangible progress in implementing the Sevilla Commitment.
I know that you are all allies in this cause. For over a decade, the Group of Friends of Monterrey has brought together the true champions of the financing agenda. You have been instrumental in keeping development financing high on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agenda, and I am counting on your leadership to drive the implementation of the Sevilla Commitment.
Excellencies,
This year¡¯s Financing for Sustainable Development Report provides an assessment of these initial implementation efforts.
The findings present a sobering picture of a challenging global environment. While macroeconomic conditions were relatively stable in 2025, global growth remains sluggish, and downside risks loom large.
Many countries - especially the poorest and most vulnerable - are facing a severe ¡®financing squeeze¡¯. This is characterized by high debt-service burdens, sharply falling ODA inflows, and deep uncertainty in investment and trade relations.
These conditions threaten to worsen if capital, trade and investment flows continue to shift along geopolitical lines, with the hardest hit inevitably being the poorest and most vulnerable.
In this challenging context, the FSDR makes five key recommendations:
First, scale up financing and investment to close persistent financing gaps, driven by the early implementation of the Sevilla Commitment;
Second, align policies and financing flows with sustainable development to maximize impact. Alignment with country priorities must be the guiding principle, particularly in efforts to mobilize private capital;
Third, invest in countries¡¯ resilience against shocks. The Sevilla Commitment outlines many relevant actions that must be implemented with urgency;
Fourth, strengthen multi-layered institutions and cooperation. National resilience investments must be tightly linked with regional and global support, ensuring external financing aligns seamlessly with country-owned strategies; and
Fifth, continue to invest in multilateralism. Sustainable development relies heavily on a predictable, rules-based multilateral system. We simply cannot afford to retreat from that.
Excellencies,
The 130 initiatives within the Sevilla Platform for Action ¡ªspanning all action areas and covering 115 of the 280 actions detailed in the Sevilla Commitment ¡ª demonstrate our immense potential for rapid progress on implementation.
To help realize this potential, my Department¡ªÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵ Department of Economic and Social Affairs¡ªwill continue to prioritize financing for development and support your efforts at the global, regional and national levels.
I wish you a highly productive retreat and trust it will help us prepare an action-oriented outcome document and a successful FFD Forum this April in New York.
Thank you!