Guterres Hails Sixty Years of UN Trade and Development Action

The right to development is inextricably linked with trade which the world’s poorest countries – now “mired in debt” through no fault of their own – have every right to pursue on much fairer terms, UN chief António Guterres insisted on Wednesday.
In a speech marking 60 years of UN Trade and Development – the agency previously known by the acronym UNCTAD – the UN Secretary-General highlighted the multiple challenges standing in the way of a more sustainable and inclusive global economy for all.
“New and protracted conflicts are having a ripple effect across the global economy. Global debt has soared while key development indicators, including poverty and hunger, have regressed,” Mr. Guterres told the UN Trade and Development Global Leaders Forum.
On a flying visit to Switzerland, Mr. Guterres reprised previous warnings that the world’s international financial architecture “has been exposed as outdated, dysfunctional, and unjust”.
It has “failed to provide a safety net for developing countries mired in debt”, the UN chief insisted, as he issued the worrying assessment that the international trading system faces pressure “on all sides”, to the extent that it is now “teetering on the verge of fragmentation”.