An agreement on the need for a debt convention would open up an intergovernmental process towards the debt architecture reform needed to prevent unsustainable and illegitimate debt accumulation and provide fair and sustainable solutions to sovereign debt crises across the globe.

Currently, while the UN Guiding Principles on Debt and Human Rights establish
the primacy of human rights over debt service, in practice we see governments
prioritising debt servicing over financing public services and guaranteeing human rights. A statutory framework could also clarify the status of debt contracts vis-àvis human rights treaties and give adequate guidance to courts worldwide.

Other necessary reforms include:

• a new approach towards and assessment of debt sustainability;
• an automatic mechanism for debt payments’ standstill in the wake of external shocks;
• the promotion of domestic legislation
• and the regulation of certain features of the financial system.

A debt convention would have all the UN Member States at the negotiating table discussing these and other necessary reforms. Without a debt convention, the current non-regime will keep global south countries in the vicious circle of new borrowing and austerity for debt repayment.