CSOs call for action to end corrupt borrowing and lending at UNCAC Conference
#DebtJustice #Jubilee2025 #CancelTheDebt #COP30 #GenderJustice #EraOfJustice
Top story
CSOs call for action to end corrupt borrowing and lending at UNCAC Conference
Last July, at the 4th Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Sevilla, UN member states committed to fully utilise the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to curb corrupt borrowing and lending, including exploring options to make such contracts unenforceable. Taking place this week in Doha, the 11th session of the UNCAC Conference of the State Parties (CoSP) is the first opportunity to kick off work towards a resolution on predatory and corrupt borrowing and lending. CSOs have submitted a proposal on how to do this.
News
Global North pushback on UN debt reform undermines Sevilla commitment
by CS FfD Mechanism
Civil society urges UN member states to honour the Sevilla Commitment and back inclusive UN-led debt architecture reforms in the face of Global North resistance.
Read the letter | Read the OpEd "How the EU actually worked to undermine Global South debt reforms" by Iolanda Fresnillo (German version available here)
Debt for Climate and allies ask Pope Leo XIV to continue the work of the Holy Jubilee Year
by Debt for Climate
A coalition of organisations, led by Debt for Climate, has issued an open letter to Pope Leo XIV, urging the Catholic Church to continue observing the spirit of the 2025 Jubilee beyond its formal conclusion until unconditional debt cancellation and land restitution are achieved.
Read the letter (English) | Spanish version
People of Sri Lanka demand debt and climate justice in the face of the national disaster
Following the devastating cyclone that left so much destruction in Sri Lanka, civil society demands urgent revision of the debt restructuring agreement, massive debt reduction, and an immediate standstill on current and future debt servicing for Sri Lanka’s recovery.
Read more | Read a statement by APMDD
Bondholders seeking massive profits from Ethiopian ‘debt relief’
by Debt Justice UK and AFRODAD
Ethiopia’s bondholders are pushing to get paid over 50% more than government creditors through participating in debt relief. Negotiations between Ethiopia and its bondholders broke down in October 2025. Bondholders, including VR Capital and Farallon Capital Management, have threatened to sue Ethiopia in the UK as part of their tactics to make more profit from the restructuring.
Blogs
Debt-led development in Africa: A folly that hinders true progress
by Catherine Mithia (AFRODAD)
African countries must make a paradigm shift away from debt-driven mega-infrastructure projects to investing in social sectors to develop a sustainable, fair, and less debt-dependent growth strategy.
COP30 Feminist reflections
by MENAFem
MENAFem has released four new reflections on COP30, offering feminist analyses of the negotiations and their broader implications. Each piece brings a distinct experiential and analytical perspective to this year’s climate talks:
- "Forests like never before, never!" by Eman Emad Eldien (Greenish)
- "From Melanesian shorelines to COP halls: climate colonialism, resistance, and the politics of belonging" by Patricia Miranda Wattimena (ESCR-Net)
- "How many times do we have to pay for the climate crisis?" by Nouran El Marsafy (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung)
- "Winning the BAM: Power of civil society and the unification of the Global South — What is next?" by Hajar Al-Beltaji (Alliance of Non-Governmental Radical Youth - ANGRY)
Reports
The IMF & World Bank’s Grip on MENA
by MENAFem
Over the last 15 years, the IMF and World Bank lending programs have attached more than 1,365 policy conditions to the MENA region, transforming everything from fiscal policy to social protection systems. This level of conditionality does not represent technical expertise, but a powerful ideological project that prioritises austerity, privatization, deregulation, and political containment. The paper reveals how these conditionalities—whether framed as budget reforms, climate measures, or governance improvements—carry profound social consequences. They consistently shift the burden of global crises onto the region’s most vulnerable groups, including people living in poverty, informal workers, and especially women.
Useful resources
Bretton Woods Observer - Winter edition
by Bretton Woods Project
The Winter 2025 issue of Bretton Woods Observer is out, providing a critical look at pressing global finance and development challenges. It examines why, as the Jubilee year concludes, systemic inequities continue to shape global debt governance, and explores the International Finance Corporation’s first securitisation transaction—an initiative to mobilise private capital into emerging markets that raises questions about development impact and accountability. The edition also highlights civil society’s call for a just transition at COP30 amid ongoing concerns about multilateral development banks’ climate finance commitments and the growing role of private finance.
Read the Bretton Woods Observer - Winter edition
Webinar: "COP30 - outcomes and ways forward on debt and climate"
by Debt and Climate Working Group
This webinar took stock of the outcomes of COP30, reviewing the key decisions adopted at the conference. It provided an opportunity for civil society actors working on economic and climate justice to reflect collectively, strategise for future initiatives, explore linkages between the debt and climate crises, and integrate economic justice considerations into ongoing discussions.
Jobs
Communications Officer (maternity cover) | CS FfD Mechanism | Deadline: 12 January
Events
28 January | Brussels and online | Getting back on course: Reclaiming ODA and putting the Global South in the driving seat
International aid and development policy is at a crossroads. Over the past decade a “modernisation process” led by the OECD-DAC, an exclusive forum of rich countries,has fundamentally changed what counts as aid (official development assistance - ODA) so it is no longer focused on poverty reduction and the fight against inequalities in the Global South. Instead aid is now shaped by the foreign policies and commercial interests of OECD Member countries. At the same time, geopolitical reprioritisation and the pressure caused by austerity policies have resulted in massive cuts to aid budgets, with significant consequences for the Global South. 2026 is a pivotal year to change course - to reclaim and reimagine ODA that truly delivers.
This event brings together civil society from the Global North and South, alongside policymakers, to critically examine the direction of ODA and articulate a vision of a just, effective and accountable system of development cooperation.
This event will also launch a new Eurodad report on the ODA modernisation process - the first comprehensive civil society retrospective on this rich country-driven and opaque reform agenda. The report examines how it has had a significant impact on the quantity and quality of resources that countries from the Global South receive. Drawing lessons from this experience will be essential to inform the debate on the ongoing review of the OECD-DAC’s composition and role, and evolving global cooperation policies.
Registrations open soon
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This newsletter has been produced with co-funding from the European Union, Bread for the World and Norad. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Eurodad and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the funders. |
