<h6><strong>Eduardo González </strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, closed the IV International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) this Thursday with a defense of development cooperation against the "cynicism, selfishness, and neglect" of those who "want to extinguish it."</strong></h4> During his speech, Sánchez highlighted the adoption by the Conference plenary (held between June 30 and July 3) of the Seville Commitment, which includes mechanisms to alleviate the debt burden and make fiscal systems more progressive and effective: "We have reached an agreement that mobilizes resources to channel more financing and increase the fiscal capacity of developing countries. An agreement that improves debt sustainability and strengthens accountability mechanisms," he stated. Sánchez also praised the launch of the Seville Platform for Action (SPA), which will allow countries, international institutions, the private sector, and civil society organizations to join forces to promote innovative initiatives to advance the financing for development agenda. According to the Prime Minister, the Platform has already received 130 proposals, including several promoted by Spain, such as the Alliance for Debt Service Suspension Clauses, which provides for the temporary interruption of debt service payments in the event that a country is affected by a food, health, or climate crisis, and the Global Hub for Debt Swaps, which contemplates exchanging debt payments for sustainable investments. Another outcome of the Conference, he continued, is the "Seville Plan for Multilateralism: Shelter, Strengthen, and Reform," which will include the opening of a United Nations House in Madrid, where interested UN agencies will be located, as well as "a greater effort by Spain to host more multilateral summits, the promotion of the presence of Spain and the Spanish people in international organizations, improvements in the procedures for contributing resources by Spain to UN organizations, and the coordination of a platform to transform the architecture of global governance to increase its inclusion and representativeness." Furthermore, the President of the Government announced during the Conference that Spain will reach 0.7% of its gross national income in development aid by 2030, the launch of a national mechanism that will channel €60 million annually to debt relief for developing countries, and an increase in Spain's contributions to cooperation in the period 2025-2027, reaching €315 million for global health, €500 million for the fight against climate change, and €725 million for human rights and humanitarian action. Likewise, Spain announced its joining, last Monday, the coalition formed within the framework of the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force to analyze ways in which the air transport sector can contribute to the just ecological transition, such as a tax on private jets or premium tickets. “Today we are not just closing a conference, today we are opening a path, and we are doing so by demonstrating something infinitely more powerful than the hateful and confrontational rhetoric that others proclaim: that the world is still capable of uniting to defend what truly matters,” stated Pedro Sánchez. Therefore, according to the President of the Government, the main achievement of this international meeting has been to have “kept the flame of development cooperation alive, even when many want to extinguish it. We have protected it against cynicism, selfishness, and forgetfulness.” <h5><strong>Fourteen bilateral meetings</strong></h5> Furthermore, the President of the Government held a total of 14 bilateral meetings with various international leaders, with whom he addressed issues such as multilateralism, economic cooperation, and regional stability: the President of France, Emmanuel Macron; the President of Panama, José Raúl Mulino; the Prime Minister of Nepal, K.P. Sharma Oli; The Presidents of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska (to whom he reiterated Spain's commitment to EU enlargement); the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal; the President of Kenya, William Ruto; the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi; the President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye; and the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, with whom he attended the signing of a new Partnership Framework.
