Countries must act fast to save the Sustainable Development Goals
25/6/2025: The 4th International Conference for Financing for Development will take place from 30 June to 3 July in Seville, Spain. It provides a unique opportunity to address financing challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Years of underinvestment by all states mean the majority of the SDGs are way off track from their 2030 target.
Source: Amnesty International
Why Spain is holding firm on aid spending
24/6/2025: At a time when much of Europe is caving in to populist anti-aid narratives, Spain is increasing its financial support for the global south and put ambitious goals for 2030 into law. By promoting multilateralism and international cooperation Spain has become an outlier in the new world disorder.
Source: The Guardian
US abandons Financing for Development conference
18/6/2025: The Trump administration has withdrawn from the UN's Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. The US no longer recognizes the Sustainable Development Goals and rejects the idea of UN negotiations on a new sovereign debt process to improve terms for indebted nations.
Source: Devex
How the Aid Transparency Index rose from the dead
17/6/2025: Suspension of the Aid Transparency Index due to lack of funding has been resolved by a new financial model. A 2026 index will be published, including only those donors that provide financial support.
Source: Devex
Seville Conference on Financing for Development can deliver
9/6/2025: The secretary-general of the UN’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development sets out his agenda. The current draft outcome aims to increase domestic taxation in low income countries and reduce the international debt burden.
Source: Devex
Trump unveils ‘draconian’ cuts to foreign aid
5/6/2025: If fully enacted, the Trump administration's 2026 budget cuts would bring funding to its lowest level since before World War II, just 0.03% of the country’s gross domestic product, compared to a 0.3% average across the last decade.
Source: Devex
Africa’s cost of capital crisis is a test for G20
20/5/2025: Three presidential candidates for the African Development Bank believe that African nations are being punished by a global financial system that systematically overprices the cost of borrowing. Twenty low-income African countries are already in or near debt distress.
Source: Devex
Bill Gates accelerates distribution from Gates Foundation
8/5/2025: Bill Gates has announced that he will make available virtually all his remaining fortune to the Gates Foundation in the next 20 years, rather than extending 20 years after his death. This is his response to cuts in national aid budgets by countries led by the US.
Source: Devex
In 2024, global aid fell for the first time in five years
16/4/2025: Global official development assistance dropped 7.1% in 2024, as donor countries scaled back funding for Ukraine, humanitarian crises, and refugee costs. Member countries of the Development Assistance Committee contributed a combined $212.1 billion, representing 0.33% of their collective gross national income. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will update these provisional figures in December.
Source: Devex
China’s big development projects are getting smaller
3/4/2025: China’s shift from massive infrastructure projects in low-income countries was partly a response to rising international criticism for inducing debt crises. With the dismantling of USAID and Europe’s aid cuts, the strategy has new relevance in an increasingly volatile development landscape.
Source: Devex