Guterres says rich countries should give $500bn a year to help the poorest states ‘stuck in vicious circles’ to boost their economies.
The head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has criticized rich countries and energy giants for forcing poor countries with “predatory” interest rates and falling fuel prices.
In his speech on the opening day of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) summit at the UN in Qatar on Saturday, Guterres said rich countries should give $500bn a year to help others who are “trapped in cycles “savage” help that will stop their efforts to stimulate and improve economies. health and education.
The summit of the 46 LDCs is usually held every 10 years but has been delayed twice since 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Afghanistan and Myanmar, two of the poorest countries, are not present at the meeting in the capital of Qatar, Doha because their governments are not recognized by UN members.
No leaders from the world’s major economies were present.
At the opening of the summit, Guterres immediately struck the way poor countries are treated by the most powerful.
“You [LDCs] representing one in eight people on Earth. I admire your incredible efforts to achieve graduation, and to maintain graduation. But your countries are also stuck in vicious cycles that make development difficult,” he said.
“We are acutely aware of the inequalities created by our unfair global economic and financial system.
“Economic development is a challenge when countries are starving for resources, drowning in debt, and still struggling with the historical injustice of an unequal response to COVID-19,” he said.
“It is a challenge to combat a climate disaster that you have done nothing to do when the cost of capital is very high and the financial support received is a drop in the bucket. Fossil fuel giants are raking in huge profits, while millions in your countries can’t put food on the table. “
Poor stuck states
Guterres said the poorest countries were being left behind in the “digital revolution” and that the war in Ukraine had only increased the prices they pay for food and fuel.
“Our global financial system was designed by rich countries, largely to their advantage,” he said. “Without liquidity, many of you are locked out of capital markets with predatory interest rates.”
With poorer states trapped in a “perfect storm of growing poverty and injustice”, Guterres said LDCs needed “at least” $500bn a year to help overcome their problems , to build job-creating businesses and repay debt.
Richer countries have also pledged, but failed, to provide hundreds of billions of dollars to help poorer states fight climate change. Guterres said the UN would “keep pushing for the resources already committed”.
‘Broken Promises’
Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera, the chairman of the conference, also hit out at the “broken promises” made by the international community, saying the aid was not “a favor or an act of charity” but ” moral responsibility”.
Under proposals known as the Doha Program of Action, a food stockholding system will be established to help countries facing hunger crises through drought and high prices. The plan also calls for an investment center to help LDCs attract foreign currency and lower interest rates to reduce the impact of their debt.
This year, Bhutan will become one of seven countries – along with Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe and the Solomon Islands – to “graduate” out of LDC status by 2026.
