GENEVA — A new Sevilla Forum on Debt, launched this week by Spain and the United Nations, aims to turn global pledges into practical reforms for a fairer, faster, and more sustainable international debt system. The initiative builds on commitments made at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville earlier this year, where countries agreed on a “Sevilla Commitment” to make global finance work better for developing economies.
A global dialogue on debt justice
The Forum will serve as a permanent platform to sustain global focus on the debt crisis and accelerate implementation of the Sevilla Commitment. It will bring together governments, finance ministers, and creditors from both developed and developing countries to advance what UN Secretary-General António Guterres described as “a global dialogue on debt.”
“Developing countries spend $1.4 trillion on annual debt service,” Guterres said at the launch in Geneva. “And 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on servicing debt than on health or education. Countries should never have to choose between servicing their debt or serving their people.”
The Forum will focus on improving coordination among debtors and creditors, ensuring equitable restructuring processes, and supporting reforms to reduce the borrowing costs that have pushed many low- and middle-income countries into financial distress.
Building on the Sevilla Commitment
The Sevilla Commitment — adopted at FFD4 in June — outlines a new roadmap for reforming the international financial architecture. It includes measures to lower borrowing costs, enable timely and equitable debt restructuring, and strengthen transparency and accountability across public and private lending.
The agreement also created a Borrowers’ Forum, launched in July, to help debt-distressed countries coordinate their positions, share legal and technical expertise, and amplify their voice in a global system historically shaped by creditors. The new Sevilla Forum will now act as the implementation arm of that agenda — tracking progress, convening technical experts, and facilitating dialogue on debt sustainability and crisis prevention.
A system under strain
The scale of the challenge remains immense. According to UN data, more than 60 developing countries now spend at least 10 percent of their government revenue on interest payments, and many have lost access to affordable credit. Mounting debt costs are constraining fiscal space for essential services, threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which is supporting the Forum, has warned that without deep reform, the global financial system will remain “tilted against the developing world.” The Forum is therefore expected to explore both short-term mechanisms for relief — such as enhanced debt restructuring — and long-term reforms to the global debt architecture that date back to the post-war Bretton Woods era.
Delivering financial justice
The initiative represents growing international recognition that today’s debt crisis cannot be managed through ad hoc measures alone. The Forum will promote shared principles of responsible borrowing and lending, crisis-prevention mechanisms, and policy coherence between global institutions, creditors, and debtor nations.
“The Sevilla Forum on Debt will help deliver the financial justice that people and countries need and deserve,” said Guterres, who praised Spain’s leadership and Minister Carlos Cuerpo for their commitment to advancing the agenda.
By linking technical dialogue with political commitment, the Forum seeks to ensure that global finance serves development priorities rather than constrains them — a step toward restoring fiscal sovereignty and trust between borrowers and lenders.
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