Inside UNGA 77: The global development issues we're watching

After two years of a scaled back, mostly virtual gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual United Nations General Assembly is back in full force this year. The theme for the 77th UNGA — “A watershed moment: Transformative solutions to interlocking challenges” — is fitting for a moment in which crises are piling up and growing ever more complex, from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine to global economic turmoil and climate change. UNGA77 kicks off Monday, with the high-level meetings set for the following week. The conference takes place at the halfway mark on the road to U.N. Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015. The outlook for achieving them by 2030 is not good. A U.N. Development Programme report released on Sept. 8 found that human development has declined globally for the last two years, falling back to levels last seen in 2016 and reversing progress toward achieving the SDGs. For many attendees, UNGA77 is a time to reflect on how to get the world back on track. As heads of state, business and civil society leaders, philanthropists, and activists descend on New York City, here’s what our reporters hope to learn and report back. Will competing priorities overshadow global health funding needs? Early in the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level week, the aid community will get a barometer for the state of global health financing in a world of COVID-19, war in Ukraine, and widespread economic distress. The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s 7th replenishment will culminate Monday, Sept. 19 in a pledging conference that will reveal whether the highly lauded partnership is successful in raising $18 billion. The Global Fund’s leaders and advocates have made a full court press in recent months to secure donor pledges and build momentum leading up to the pledging conference in New York, which will be hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. They’ve had some big wins — up to $1 billion from Japan and €1.3 billion from Germany. But the Global Fund’s Executive Director Peter Sands also told me earlier this summer that given the debt and inflation pressures that are hitting low- and middle-income countries particularly hard, the organization may struggle to secure as much funding as it initially hoped to from the countries where its programs operate. In other words, it will be both more difficult and critical for the Global Fund to reach its $18 billion target. More broadly, the replenishment conference could set the tone for a week in which one of the central questions will be: As the world reels from the pandemic, conflict, financial crisis, and climate change, will governments arrive in New York with reserves of global solidarity — or to pursue and protect their own national interests? — Michael Igoe, Senior Reporter Will world leaders act on food insecurity? Food security will be top of mind for world leaders gathering in New York, as spiking prices of food, fuel, and fertilizer have sent people into poverty — and, in some cases, spurred social unrest. While there’s not yet a food security meeting on the official UNGA agenda, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last month that President Joe Biden plans to convene heads of state for a Global Food Security Summit to address the issue. The grim food security picture comes one year after the inaugural U.N. Food Systems Summit, a process that brought together diverse stakeholders within the food system in an effort to start transforming how the world ​​grows, harvests, and transports food. That event, on UNGA’s sidelines, was held mostly virtually last year — which took some wind out of the sails of what was to be a major moment for global commitments. Reaching the U.N. Sustainable Development goal of zero hunger by 2030 was already looking bleak before COVID. Now, the pandemic plus the war in Ukraine is putting ending hunger even further out of reach. — Teresa Welsh, Senior Reporter Will the private sector step up on climate finance? While I won’t be at UNGA77 in person, around this time of the year I often find myself reflecting on a question I explored seven years ago: The private sector has asked for a seat at the table to reach the SDGs, but is it stepping up? In some ways, yes. But in others, the same conversation seems to be on repeat year after year. A widespread change in how businesses operate is still far from reality. One issue certainly higher on the agenda this year is climate finance. Ahead of the high-level meetings, the U.N. Global Compact — which bills itself as the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — released new guidance on how the private sector can ensure a “just transition” to a climate-neutral economy. We’ll be keeping an eye on how corporate and financial industry climate efforts such as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero — a coalition of financial institutions committed to a transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 — are evolving and whether they are delivering. Earlier this year, GFANZ launched a draft framework to help financial institutions and others judge the credibility of plans to accelerate and scale clean energy and transition-related finance. Just last week, GFANZ announced a new Africa Network aimed at mobilizing investment on the continent to ensure that net-zero financing efforts are inclusive. Will debate around ESG spur action on the SDGs, or spark backtracking? How will rising interest rates impact risk appetites and investment in low-income countries? We’ll have our eye on these issues and more. — Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter How can technology and innovation help achieve the SDGs? That question is sure to come up everywhere, from the U.N.’s Transforming Education Summit to the Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Earthshot Innovation Prize Summit. I’ve always found the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s UNGA event, Goalkeepers, to be a helpful source of ideas and contacts related to progress on the SDGs, so I’m glad to see it return after a two-year hiatus. Turning to the official U.N. agenda, I look forward to this high-level session on how better data can accelerate global development on Sept. 22. Finally, I’m planning to tune into the Science Summit at UNGA, which starts this week, bringing together perspectives from all over the world for virtual conversations on the role of innovation across the SDGs. Much of my time in New York City will be focused on Devex @ UNGA77, where I’m moderating several conversations focused on global health. On Wednesday, Sept. 21, I’ll be moderating a panel on how to build and sustain vaccine demand with and for communities, where I’ll be joined by leaders including Atul Gawande, USAID’s assistant administrator for global health. I’ll also be conducting an interview on Rwanda as an emerging global health hub and facilitating a conversation on advancing global health equity. — Catherine Cheney, Senior Reporter How are global economic headwinds affecting the aid sector? Soaring inflation is forcing central bankers everywhere to aggressively hike interest rates, which some fear could tip economies into recessions. Earlier this month, Bond, the U.K’s network of NGOs, said its members are facing “financial turmoil” as a result of the economic crisis — which in turn is hurting their ability to deliver on projects. “What organizations are seeing is almost, within six months, they're seeing a complete erosion of the value of grants and erosion of the value of their spending power,” Bond said. With that as the backdrop, Devex will be asking CEOs, leaders, and development experts at UNGA for their thoughts on how a changing global economic outlook will affect development and the future health of economies in lower-income countries. — Omar Muhammed, Foreign Aid Business Reporter How can philanthropy address a growing list of global crises? This will be my first UNGA, and I’m very much looking forward to finally meeting many from the philanthropy sector in person as I whip around New York City attending the plethora of events, most of which seem to hit two major themes: One, how can the private sector step up its giving to help achieve the SDGs, particularly in areas such as climate change and world hunger? Two, are foundations and other philanthropic organizations making progress on ambitious diversity, equity, and inclusion goals? On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will host the first of two events around the release of its sixth annual Goalkeepers report. The Goalkeepers Awards Ceremony for “remarkable young global leaders” will take place Tuesday evening followed by a daytime Goalkeepers event featuring Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and many other speakers on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Bloomberg Philanthropies and Prince William’s Royal Foundation will also host a series of talks about how to accelerate climate actions by 2030 at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit on Wednesday, Sept. 21. And I’ll be tuning into the Charities Aid Foundation event on how the private sector can direct more funding towards the SDGs as governments tighten their budgets on Thursday, Sept. 22. Also happening on Tuesday, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Ford Foundation will hold a talk on how power and equity considerations factor into philanthropy today. I recently wrote about some of the challenges foundations have faced implementing DEI commitments and will be moderating Devex’s panel on inclusion in philanthropy Thursday, Sept. 22, with the CEOs of the Lego Foundation and The Eleanor Crook Foundation, among others. — Stephanie Beasley, Senior Reporter