Finance and foreign ministers called for radical action to reform the international financial architecture, empower developing countries in international institutions and channel trillions of dollars towards sustainable development in Africa and other developing countries.

UN member States convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to renew the push for sustainable development financing and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The First Preparatory Committee meeting of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) concluded with a renewed focus on bridging gaps in SDG financing and delivering international financial architecture reform.

Ministers and global experts also unveiled proposals for reforming the rules and governance of international taxation, and for addressing countries facing debt crises, including through new international mechanisms to resolve situations of sovereign debt default.

The SDG financing gap for developing countries has ballooned to $4-trillion a year, following four years of global shocks, including the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts and economic instability, the UN said.

The financing gap and accompanying debt challenges have worsened poverty and inequality, putting the world off track to meet international targets set in 2015.

The challenges countries face in raising sufficient resources have laid bare structural flaws in the international financial architecture and accelerated calls for reforms.

“This meeting provided the opportunity to take stock of the steps we must take to fill the financing gaps and meet the development needs of all people around the world,” said UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs under-secretary-general and FfD4 conference secretary-general Li Junhua.

“The ministers, experts and other stakeholders have made it clear that we cannot continue with business as usual and must dramatically reshape the international financial system to ensure investment where it is most needed,” he said.

Faced with sky-high debt burdens and costs of capital, developing countries have limited prospects of financing the SDGs, said UN secretary-general António Guterres during a video presentation to the conference.

“The FfD4 opens the door for world leaders to adopt ambitious reforms to deliver affordable long-term financing at scale and deliver the SDG stimulus. The meeting presents a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” he said.

“The international financial architecture created nearly 80 years ago needs to be reformed to respond to the most pressing challenges of African countries in a more effective and inclusive manner,” said UN Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary Claver Gatete.

“African countries are taking a leadership role in pressing for changes to global tax and financial systems, and they are clear that the international system needs to better support their sustainable development aspirations,” he added.

Almost 800 participants at the First Preparatory Committee meeting discussed financing issues, including debt, taxation, trade, private finance, development cooperation, technology and data.

The five-day meeting was the first of four preparatory meetings to be held ahead of the FfD4 conference to be held in Sevilla, Spain, in 2025, with a mandate from the UN General Assembly to support reform of the international financial architecture.