Resolution 68/304 was adopted in September 2014, with 124 votes in favour, 41 abstentions, and 11 votes against. It recognises 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.

However, the process was resisted by creditor countries. In response, the G77 tabled a less ambitious resolution at the General Assembly in September 2015 to adopt the “Basic Principles on sovereign debt restructuring processes”. This resolution outlined basic voluntary principles, emphasising fairness, transparency, and sustainability, but they have never been fully implemented.

In parallel to that process, the Third UN Financing for Development Conference took place in Ethiopia in July 2015 and delivered the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), which failed to progress the discussions on debt architecture reform. The momentum was lost as creditor countries defended the status quo and pushed for debt issues to come exclusively under the mandate of global creditor-led institutions, like the Paris Club, G20, and the IMF.18