Global reform, financial system reform, UN reform and reform of UN finances
Presentation by Barbara Adams at the UNU – IIGH & TWN Symposium – 22 April 2025
Economic justice, Equitable Global Governance & UN reform, Presentations
Equitable Global Governance & UN reform, Presentations
RLS: The Morning after the SoTF: Critical reflections and the Right to Development
Barbara Adams (GPF) gave a presentation on a brief analysis of the Pact for the Future, following the 2024 UN
Briefings
Zero Draft of the Pact for the Future
The Global Policy Watch Team
Member States have started negotiations on the Summit of the Future outcome document: the Pact for the Future. The process kicked off on 29 January 2024 with the co-facilitators’ presentation of the Zero Draft of the Pact and Member States’ reactions to the Zero Draft. Read more
Round Up
Round Up #8. UNGA78 Second Committee: Countries in Special Situations
Two high-level conferences for countries in special situations are scheduled for 2024 and Preparatory Committees have begun their discussions at the UNHQ. This Round Up focuses on central themes explored by the UNGA78 Second Committee (Economic and Financial)’s session on Groups of Countries in Special Situations, including debt distress and vulnerability, concessional funding and climate financing. Read more
Briefings
3rd UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3)
The 3rd LLDC3 will be held on 18-21 June 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government.
This GPW briefing explores the pertinent issues and trajectory of the process, with the different priorities revealed in Member State statements. Read more
Presentations
UN Development System &Funding
Presentation by Barbara Adams at the IDOS Expert workshop on Funding the UN system6 – 7 November 2023, Bonn, Germany
Articles, Economic justice
An alliance to end corporate privileges?
By Roberto Bissio
What is the purpose of the APEP Summit that will bring ten Latin American presidents and the Canadian prime minister to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on 3 November? Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and influential Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren have a suggestion: it is the great opportunity to do away once and for all with the private arbitration tribunals that condemn governments to pay huge amounts of compensation to large corporations for lost profits due to health and safety legislation, thereby inhibiting democratic decisions. Read more
Briefings
2024 UN Summit of the Future
The Global Policy Watch Team
Considered a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to address inequities in global governance and reset international cooperation, the Summit of the Future (SoTF) will be a cornerstone among a series of high-level UN meetings in 2024. Read more
Briefings, Equitable Global Governance & UN reform
UN General Assembly 2023: Shifting Dynamics of Global Governance
The Global Policy Watch Team
Many world leaders during the UN GA High-level General Debate referenced the sorry state of multilateralism and the various alignments and groupings, some to counter the lack of agency and redress power asymmetries across multiple policy streams. In conjunction with the historical responsibilities of developed countries for carbon emissions, many called for reparations for slavery and colonialism, highlighting the historical injustice that continues to disadvantage developing countries. Reform of the international financial architecture featured consistently on the agenda, as did a focus on demands for action on Loss and Damage at the upcoming COP 28 and the devastating debt distress, especially in small- and medium-sized countries. Read more
Briefings, People-centered Multilateralism
ECOSOC HLPF on Sustainable Development 2023: Perspectives, Priorities and Positions
The GPW Team in collaboration with students from Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs at The New School.
In 2023, the HLPF took place from 10 – 19 July, and the main SDGs subjected to in-depth review were SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation, SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy, SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities and SDG 17 on partnerships for the Goals. Read more
Briefings
2023 UN SDG Summit
At the half-way mark to fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN “SDG Summit” is charged with igniting a correction course as the UN, Member States and numerous studies agree that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are seriously off-track and the consequences of failure affect all countries and sectors of society. Key themes include: the SDG Stimulus, debt swaps, international financial architecture reform, re-channeling of Special Drawing Rights amongst other issues. Read more
People-centered Multilateralism, Round Up
Round Up #7. Reform of the International Financial Architecture
A key theme for the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), 10-20 July 2023, was the issue of the current international financial architecture (IFA) that disproportionality disservices low and middle-income countries. Read more
Briefings
UN General Assembly High-Level Week
GPW Fact Sheet on UN General Assembly High-Level Week features a run-down of the high-level events & collection of relevant resources. Happening soon, the UNGA High-Level Week will be an opportunity for a discussion on current challenges to global multilateralism. Read more
Round Up, Sustainable development, social justice and sustainable peace
Round Up #6. 2023 ECOSOC Operational Activities for Development Segment
This GPW Round Up #6 features a selection of perspectives from the sessions held in May 2023. Read more
Round Up
Round UP #5. 5th UN Conference on LDCs: Highlights from High-Level Roundtable discussions at LDC5
This GPW Round Up – 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5): Highlights from High-Level Roundtable discussions at LDC5 – features a selection of perspectives from different groups of participants at the LDC5 Conference held in March 2023. Read more
Round Up
Round Up #4. UN 2023 Water Conference: Highlights from the conference in UN year for Water Action and Focus
This GPW Round Up #4, UN 2023 Water Conference: Highlights from the conference in UN year for Water Action and Focus, features a selection of perspectives from different groups of participants at the UN Water Conference held in March 2023. Read more
Equitable Global Governance & UN reform, People-centered Multilateralism, Presentations
United Nations and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – 2023
GPF presentation on 2023 events at the UN on sustainable development and the 2030 agenda.
Briefings, Economic justice
LDCs and Their “Graduation”
By Alexa Sabatini, Julie Kim, Barbara Adams, and Karen Judd
The UN established the category of least developed countries (LDCs) in 1971, as many developing countries were navigating a path to development in the post-colonial period. The classification identified specific development challenges faced by these countries. Read more
Round Up
Round Up #3. CSO Participation at the UN: Perspectives on CSO Engagement in UN Processes
This GPW Round Up #3, CSO Participation at the UN: Perspectives on CSO Engagement in UN Processes, highlights some insights, analyses, commentary and advocacy regarding civil society organizations engaging in UN multilateral processses. From the Member States to the UN Secretary-General, CSOs are frequently exalted as an integral part of multilateral policy-making processes; yet, whether their calls and analyses are genuinely heeded is up for debate. Some Member States and CSOs have called for improvements in CSO participation, supported by recommendations from experts on reforms to CSO engagement. Read more
Briefings, Equitable Global Governance & UN reform
2022 UN General Assembly High-level Debate: perspectives from the Global South
The GPW Team
In September 2022, heads of state and government spoke at the UN Headquarters on the theme “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”. Secretary-General António Guterres’s message was clear: “Our world is in peril and paralyzed”. He launched the High-level General Debate bluntly: “Our world is in big trouble. Divides are growing deeper. Inequalities are growing wider. Challenges are spreading farther.” He urged, “We need action across the board.”
These concerns reverberated throughout the high-level session. This briefing contains a sampling from countries of the Global South. Read more
Briefings, Economic justice
Injuring the Care Economy with Private Finance
By Marina Durano, Ph.D.
The pandemic lockdowns and limits to mobility taught painful lessons about the importance of care. First, the pandemic forced us to recognize the value of care workers as essential and that we are dependent on a broad spectrum of essential workers. Second, a significant share of deaths occurred in long-term care homes, exposing the vulnerabilities of a long-neglected sector. Third, parents with school-age children felt the stresses of holding down a job while working from home at the same time that they are caring for their children and family members within a confined space. Read more
Economic justice, Publications
New Release: Interest rate turnaround. A turning point for development finance?
By Bodo Ellmers
Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, development finance has operated under conditions of low interest rates and high liquidity in global financial markets. This has changed with the recent turnaround in interest rates. The briefing paper Interest rate turnaround. A turning point for development finance? describes the current trends, analyzes the implications for financing sustainable development in the Global South, and formulates policy recommendations on how countries in the Global South and their financing partners in the North can respond to the interest rate increases. Read more
Briefings, Corporate Influence, Economic justice, Equitable Global Governance & UN reform
Sustainable Development, Corporate Influence and Private Finance
By Antje Hipkins and Elena Marmo
Crucial to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda is SDG 17, “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”. Increasingly, discussions now take the form of multistakeholder partnerships and engagement with the business sector as a tool to mobilize finance for the SDGs or generate needed capacity – often to develop a pipeline of bankable projects. This partnership orientation has become a regular feature of the UN agenda, from the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Operational Activities Segment in May 2022 to the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2022. Read more
Briefings, Equitable Global Governance & UN reform
Global South Voices at 2022 UN High-level Political Forum
By Antje Hipkins
At the first High-level Political Forum held in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2022, 44 countries presented VNRs, including many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These countries focused on progress toward achieving the 2030 Agenda and the impact of COVID-19 on countries’ development plans, progress on gender equality, specific vulnerabilities in the face of multiple global crises, and the urgency of increasing climate resilience. Some emphasized the importance of a shift away from reliance on Gross National Income (GNI) as a key measure of development, as well as concern about the ability of LDCs to continue developing sustainably after graduating from the category. Read more