Since the AAAA in 2015 (see Question 4), calls for reform of the global financial architecture, and particularly improvements to debt crisis prevention and resolution, have become more and more frequent at the UN.

For instance, the UNGA annual resolutions on ‘debt and debt sustainability’, as well as the annual outcome documents of the UN ECOSOC Financing for Development Forums, have included calls for enhancing or improving the international financial architecture and for debt mechanisms that aid crisis prevention and resolution.

The impacts of the Covid-19 crisis also worsened the debt situation in many global south countries and led to various initiatives, including:

• Financing for Development in the Era of Covid-19 and Beyond Initiative (FFDI).
• UN Secretary-General brief on Reforms to the International Financial Architecture as part of the proposal for “Our Common Agenda”.
• UNCTAD proposal for improving debt workouts and a global debt authority in its “Trade and Development Report” for 2023.