The UN is arguably the only multilateral forum where such a mandate can be fulfilled through an intergovernmental process in which all countries participate on an equal footing. The fact that the UN itself is neither debtor nor creditor makes it the “only inclusive and truly democratic space to advance on the systemic reforms needed to re-design a skewed and dysfunctional international financial architecture towards supporting human rights-centred sustainable development”.

First and foremost, the UN Charter mandates the UN system to promote solutions for international economic issues, particularly through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Additionally, debt was at the core of UNCTAD’s work standing on the side of global south countries in debt crisis, even before the outbreak of the 1980s debt crisis.

The First UN International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) took place in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002. Since then, the democratisation of global economic governance has remained at the heart of the FfD process, with sovereign debt as one of the core issues of the FfD agenda. In Monterrey, UN Member States agreed on providing “fair burden-sharing between public and private sectors and between debtors, creditors and investors” in financial crisis resolution, and encouraged the exploration of “innovative mechanisms to comprehensively address debt problems of developing countries”. It also emphasised the importance of ensuring long-term debt sustainability to prevent future crises, advocating for responsible lending and borrowing practices to avoid the accumulation of unsustainable debt.

In April 2012, after a thorough consultation with member states and other stakeholders, UNCTAD launched the ‘Principles on Promoting Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing’. This compilation of non-binding soft law encourages responsible behaviour by both borrowers and lenders, advocating for fair terms, informed decisions, and public consent in lending and borrowing processes. But it remains unenforceable as the principles are voluntary.

The UN mandate on debt architecture reform also comes specifically from the UN General Assembly resolution 68/304, adopted in September 2014, after a proposal championed by Argentina. The resolution recognised the sovereign right of any state to restructure its debt without interference from other states and highlighted the lack of a sound legal framework for orderly and predictable sovereign debt restructuring. Through this resolution, a majority of member states decided “to elaborate and adopt through a process of intergovernmental negotiations (...) a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes”. The next FfD Conference provides the ideal opportunity to agree on a debt convention that revives the commitment made in the 68/304 resolution in 2014.