Presented by Clinton Global Initiative
Global heads of state will convene at the United Nations Summit of the Future this weekend to attempt to set the world on the right path. Ambitious reform proposals are on the agenda. So while major powers are still locked in disputes over human rights issues, there’s a sense of subdued optimism.
Also in today’s edition: Meet the EU’s newly nominated aid leaders.
Cooperation or chaos?
This weekend, world leaders will gather at the U.N.'s Summit of the Future to tackle a rather important question: Can we all get along? The stakes are higher than ever, with the planet facing a buffet of existential threats — climate change, pandemics, war, extreme poverty, and the looming fear of AI-driven chaos. No pressure!
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The summit takes place at a time when the global system that’s kept world wars at bay for almost 80 years is looking a bit shaky. In fact, the big five veto-wielding powers — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — have even ditched their usual lunch date. Maybe they’re just busy ... or maybe it’s a sign of the deepening global divide.
In any event, not one of the five big powers will be represented by a head of state or government at the summit. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will deliver the U.S. speech, Devex Senior Global Reporter Colum Lynch writes.
As negotiations heat up, Russia and its band of autocratic friends — Iran, Nicaragua, Syria, and Venezuela — are trying to strip out key human rights and free speech protections from the summit's declarations. Their wish list? No internet shutdown bans, no sanctions, and a free pass for surveillance. It’s shaping up to be quite the showdown.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, along with leaders such as Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Namibia’s Nangolo Mbumba, are pushing for bold reforms. From revamping the U.N. Security Council to addressing poverty and managing digital technologies, there’s a 60-point action plan on the table. But with expectations pretty low, the summit could surpass them just by attendees showing up.
In all seriousness, there’s a growing sense that this summit could help shape the future of international cooperation, even if it’s not the global peace love-fest we dream of. What’s at stake? Everything from poverty to nuclear disarmament to who controls the internet.
And it gives the U.N. membership a shot at realizing some long-elusive goals, such as expanding the Security Council to include emerging powers, particularly from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. While nobody expects world peace to break out overnight, there’s hope the summit will at least renew a sense of commitment to multilateralism.
Read: UN Future Summit seeks to unite fractured world
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What a difference 27 years make
Faced with the double whammy of China and the climate crisis, David Lammy, the U.K.’s new foreign and development secretary, has confirmed there are no plans to bring back a standalone aid department.
“We are not in the same environment we were in when I last came into government back in 1997. This is a very different world,” he said in response to a question about whether he intends to deepen the merger that created the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office because it would be too costly and disruptive to unwind.
“It's a world that's got to take on board China's Belt and Road Initiative, it's a world that's got to really face up to the ravishing of the climate crisis — and you see the effects of that here in Europe and you see it in the Sahel particularly. And it's a world where we have to find a way to ensure we have greater finance available beyond just taxpayers’ pounds,” Lammy said.
Speaking at an event in London, Lammy explained that instead of hitting rewind, his focus is on making the merged FCDO more efficient. He’s even brought in former DFID boss Minouche Shafik to give it a once-over. But no need to brace for big changes — this review is about tweaks, not a total shakeup, Devex U.K. Correspondent Rob Merrick writes.
Read: Lammy says FCDO merger can't be reversed, due to China and climate
ICYMI: UK development review seeks to deepen controversial FCDO merger (Pro)
We did it, Jozef
On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her leadership team for the next five years, with a former Czech banker and former Belgian journalist nominated for the development and aid portfolios respectively.
Jozef Síkela and Hadja Lahbib have most recently been in national politics, from which countries typically choose their commissioners to go to Brussels.
It’s not a done deal yet, however, as commissioner-designates will soon face a confirmation hearing in the European Parliament. Deputies often like to claim a scalp by rejecting a candidate — thus reaffirming one of their major powers in the delicate institutional balance of the European Union.
Expect Síkela to be grilled in particular on how he intends to balance von der Leyen’s aim to make development cooperation an arm of the EU’s self-interested foreign economic policy on the one hand, with its treaty obligation to prioritize poverty eradication on the other.
“Treaties are not like the rules of a golf club,” Barry Andrews, the new chair of the Parliament’s development committee, told Devex yesterday, adding that they are supposed to be a constitutional limit on arbitrary exercise of power. “[The] Commission can’t continue to brush this off.”
Read: Are the proposed new EU aid leaders a good fit for the job? (Pro)
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Reading and math get a lifeline
Education experts are breathing a sigh of relief after hearing that a key indicator tracking reading and math levels among early-grade students likely won’t be dropped from the Sustainable Development Goals. But not everyone is on board with the plan to save it.
Last October, measured panic hit the education community when the fate of SDG 4.1.1a, which tracks how many children in Grades 2 and 3 meet basic proficiency in reading and math, was thrown into doubt. Some feared the progress in foundational learning might be lost if the indicator was demoted from the SDG framework, Devex contributing reporter Sophie Edwards writes.
But fast forward to now and experts are "fairly confident" the indicator will stick around. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics, or UIS, which handles the SDG data, has rolled out a new plan to keep the indicator alive. However, some in the global south aren’t thrilled. They feel sidelined and accuse UIS of overcomplicating the process, making it seem like only experts from wealthier countries know best.
While the UIS plan helps meet the data requirements, which could save the indicator, some critics argue the process has become unnecessarily complex, and that a simpler approach would have done the job just fine.
Read: An SDG indicator on education is safe, but the fight isn’t over
In other news
Médecins Sans Frontières said it has closed its operations in Russia after 32 years, following a Justice Ministry decision to remove the group from the register of foreign NGOs. [AP]
The U.N. General Assembly will vote on a Palestinian resolution calling for Israel to end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year. [ABC News]
Bangladesh announced that the World Bank has committed over $2 billion in new financing this fiscal year to support reforms, flood response, and health care. [Reuters]
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About the author
Helen Murphy
Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong to work for a daily newspaper.
