For Sanda Ojiambo, executive director of the United Nations’ Global Digital Compact, it is not for the private sector to step in and replace the public sector’s development role. Governments that have made unrealized promises to fund development projects need to be held accountable.
“I don’t believe the private sector should step in wholeheartedly and fill a public sector gap. I think governments need to be held accountable for commitments,” Ojiambo said in an interview with Devex’s Jesse Chase-Lubitz on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Spain. “A lot of financing commitments have been made and they have not been honored, from climate mitigation to adaptation and resilience.”
The remarks come at a time of unprecedented retreat from public overseas development assistance, with the Trump administration leading the way with draconian cuts in funding for health, anti-poverty, and climate programs. In a series of U.N. negotiations, American diplomats have even sought to expunge any references to global warming, gender equity, and the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, a series of targets for ending extreme poverty and other health, environmental, and social ills by the year 2030.
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
