UN General Assembly 2021 - Debt highlights
The 2021 UN General Assembly concluded on Monday, September 27. As part of our collective advocacy efforts at the UN we followed the interventions of heads of state with a focus on debt and climate issues.
The discussions were encouraging insofar there is a growing number of countries making public calls for reform of the international financial architecture (including a debt workout mechanism and debt restructuring), debt cancellation and relief, as well as the increasingly important linkages between debt and climate.
Here you can find the links to the relevant speeches on these issues:
- Argentina: Came out guns blazing against the IMF. Called for multilateral debt workout mechanism, reform of CRAs and debt restructuring linked to climate goals.
- Colombia: Called for exclusion of climate related investments from fiscal rules (and by extension DSAs). Also called for immediate relief and suspension of multilateral debts linked to climate goals.
- Democratic Republic of Congo: Highlighted insufficiency of financial multilateral response to address challenges faced by Africa. Called for debt relief for African countries.
- Costa Rica: Cited climate change as an existential threat and need for additional financing for countries in Central America.
- Maldives: Cited climate change as an existential threat.
- Palau: Cited climate change as an existential threat and singled out lack of access to climate financing as the single biggest problem.
- Sri Lanka: Called for debt relief linked to the 2030 Agenda.
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Suriname: Called for additional support and debt relief for middle income countries.
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Malawi: Called for debt cancellation (Important to take note of consistent messaging on this issue and think of ways to amplify it).
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Togo: Called for debt relief for countries in Africa.
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Dominican Republic: Called for support for middle income countries and mechanism for concessional financing linked to SDRs.
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Spain: Called for expansion of Common Framework for middle income countries and mechanism for concessional financing linked to SDRs.
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Guyana: Calls for additional debt moratoriums and concessional financing.
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South Africa: Calls for on-lending of SDRs with a focus on Africa.
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Mexico: Called for support for middle income countries.
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Seychelles: Called for establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Bolivia: Called for debt relief for developing countries and the recognition of climate debts by advanced economies.
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Nigeria: Called for debt cancellation and review of eligibility criteria.
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Mauritius: Called for support for middle income countries and the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Pakistan: Called for comprehensive debt restructuring and re-distribution of SDRs.
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Jamaica: Called for support for middle income countries and the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Belize: Called for debt relief and the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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St. Kitts: Called for a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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St. Lucia: Called for debt relief and the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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St. Vincent: Called for debt relief and the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Fiji: Called for a revision of debt sustainability criteria.
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Antigua and Barbuda: Called for debt cancellation and the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Grenada: Called for the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Côte d'Ivoire: Called for debt cancellation.
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Trinidad: Called for the establishment of a new vulnerability index for the provision of multilateral support.
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Nepal: Called for improved debt restructuring.
We hope you find these materials useful.
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