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STORY: UNGA80 / FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT
TRT: 4:14
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Various shots, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
24 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“This Summit is built on three key premises: First, cooperation – especially in light of collapsing aid commitments and rising trade tensions. Second, coherence – to build bridges across the many spaces where dialogues on development finance are taking place. Third, inclusivity --- the distribution of economic power in the world is grossly unequal, and should not be the basis for determining participation.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Further details must be agreed in Belém on climate finance. A consensus on actions to take on debt — with new instruments to reduce borrowing costs and risks, including from climate shocks, and faster support for countries facing illiquidity and debt distress. And consensus on steps towards a fairer system — by amplifying the voice of debtor countries, piloting solidarity levies, and advancing inclusive international tax cooperation.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“This is a very unique Summit with a powerful display of political capital. But meetings are not the objective – they are the means to deliver for people who are looking for action now. Let us use this Summit to strengthen our cooperation and take decisive steps toward a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future.”
8. Med shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF):
“At the IMF, we are determined to continue to play a very constructive role and support financially our members, especially low-income countries. We have 50 of our members benefit from those programs. More than half are low income and fragile States. And I'm proud to say that we have strengthened our capacity to lend to low-income countries by, doubling the lending of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust while restoring a self-sustained model.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa:
“Firstly, we need debt relief and restructuring that is faster, but that is also fairer and more comprehend. And secondly, we need to mobilize affordable, accessible financing from a wide range of sources, from development funding institutions, from private capital entities, and so on. Thirdly, we need to rechannel unused special drawing rights to countries that need them. Fourthly, we must scale up concessional finance through the development banks. Lastly, we must reform global tax rules to curb illicit financial flows.”
12. Wide shot, conference room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization:
“I just want to note that trade in digitally delivery services, everything that is done through electronic transmissions and internet grew ten percent last year to reach almost $5 trillion in value. South-South trade continues to grow. It now accounts for about a quarter of global goods trade, up from less than 10 [percent] 30 years ago. In addition, there are initial signs that the value chains are starting to draw in new suppliers and new geographies. Over time, this could contribute to economic resilience. Importantly, it could also help mitigate today's frictions regarding overdependence.”
The United Nations today (24 Sep) hosted the first Biennial Summit to unite multilateral efforts and the international financial system around sustainable development.
The Summit is one of several steps identified by Member States in the Pact for the Future to reform the International Financial Architecture. This unique gathering brings together heads of State leading major multilateral platforms such as the G7, G20 and COP30; heads of State representing country groupings including small island states and the least developed countries; and the principals of international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and IMF, in an inclusive dialogue.
In his remarks, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted that the Summit is built on three key premises: cooperation, coherence and inclusivity.
The Summit took place three months after Member States completed negotiations on a new global financing framework at the Financing for Development conference in Seville.
Guterres stressed that further details must be agreed in Belém on climate finance. “A consensus on actions to take on debt — with new instruments to reduce borrowing costs and risks, including from climate shocks, and faster support for countries facing illiquidity and debt distress. And consensus on steps towards a fairer system — by amplifying the voice of debtor countries, piloting solidarity levies, and advancing inclusive international tax cooperation,” he explained.
The UN chief reiterated that this is a very unique Summit with a powerful display of political capital, but “meetings are not the objective – they are the means to deliver for people who are looking for action now.”
Guterres concluded, “Let us use this Summit to strengthen our cooperation and take decisive steps toward a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future.”
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva told Member States that her Fund is “determined to continue to play a very constructive role and support financially our members, especially low-income countries.”
She noted that the IMF has supported 50 members, “more than half are low income and fragile States.”
“And I'm proud to say that we have strengthened our capacity to lend to low-income countries by, doubling the lending of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust while restoring a self-sustained model,” Georgieva added.
South Africa holds the Presidency of the G20, the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa advocated for a faster, fairer and more comprehended debt relief and restructuring.
He added, “We need to mobilize affordable, accessible financing from a wide range of sources, from development funding institutions, from private capital entities, and so on.”
President Ramaphosa also pointed out the need to rechannel unused special drawing rights to countries that need them, as well as the need to scale up concessional finance through the development banks.
“We must reform global tax rules to curb illicit financial flows,” the South African President concluded.
For her part, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of World Trade Organization noted that trade in digitally delivery services grew ten percent last year to reach almost $5 trillion in value.
She added, “South-South trade continues to grow. It now accounts for about a quarter of global goods trade, up from less than 10 [percent] 30 years ago.”
The Director-General also noted initial signs that the value chains are starting to draw in new suppliers and new geographies. “Over time, this could contribute to economic resilience. Importantly, it could also help mitigate today's frictions regarding overdependence,” she said.
The Biennial Summit was first proposed by the Secretary-General in his 2021 report, Our Common Agenda, at a time of major global upheaval during the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis highlighted the need for stronger, more networked, and inclusive global governance to support development finance.
Last year, in the Pact for the Future, Member States identified the Summit as one of a number of actions to reform the International Financial Architecture, enabling it to better reflect today’s world, and to respond to today’s financing needs.
