UN SDG Financing News

Development Finance News
06
Aug
From market access to green innovation, these examples show what happens when entrepreneurs get the right support at the right time.
Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for around 90 per cent of businesses worldwide. They create jobs, drive innovation, and strengthen local communities. Yet millions of entrepreneurs continue to face barriers that limit their ability to start, sustain, and grow their businesses, from limited access to finance and digital tools to skills gaps and climate-related challenges.
Supporting MSMEs is not just...
29
Jul
Net official development assistance (ODA) by member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is projected to fall again by 6.9% in 2026, driven by cuts by major donors. The health sector is seeing the deepest cuts, falling to its lowest levels in almost two decades. As the world grapples with more frequent and widespread health crises, this decrease in aid for health threatens to have broad implications for the world at large.
Bilateral ODA for health is projected to decline again,...
19
Sep
Every year at this time, world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. This year, however, there will be nothing routine about this diplomatic set-piece. 77 years after the UN was created to save humanity “from the scourge of war”, Europe is once again on the front line and crises are affecting many regions. UNGA offers a unique chance for countries to come together, to work out solutions to global problems. And after two...
02
May
Despite progress made since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Goals (SDGs), OECD countries have met or are close to meeting only a quarter of the targets for which performance can be gauged, according to a new OECD report.
Virtually all OECD countries are already securing basic economic needs and implementing the policy tools and frameworks mentioned in the 2030 Agenda. But progress towards 21 targets on issues such as ensuring no one is...
08
Jul
Everyone in the world could have access to clean, affordable energy within the next nine years if countries modestly increase investments, according to new reports released this week by the United Nations. Annual investments of around $35 billion could bring electricity access for 759 million people who currently lack it, and $25 billion a year can help 2.6 billion people gain access to clean cooking between now and 2030.
The proposed global roadmap outlines concrete actions to achieve clean, affordable energy for...
01
Jul
The absence of clear references to SDGs and the lack of involvement of cities and regions in the national recovery plans could compromise the capacity to overcome the pandemic crisis
European local and regional leaders are calling for the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs) to be put back on the top of the European Union's agenda, asking the EU institutions and Member States to ensure their implementation by 2030. In an opinion adopted today by its plenary, the European...
10
May
From the loss of education to the impact on businesses, jobs and the flow of finance for development, the economic scars of the pandemic will take time to heal. In the light of COVID-19, development finance backing from the European Union is more important than ever.
The world was not doing enough for sustainable development, even before the pandemic. The existing gap in financing for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals has been estimated at around $2.5 trillion. Growth in...
30
Apr
The pandemic’s impact on the world’s poor has been especially harsh. COVID-19 may have pushed about 100 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 alone, while the UN warns that in some regions poverty could rise to levels not seen in 30 years. The current crisis has derailed progress toward basic development goals, as low-income developing countries must now balance urgent spending to protect lives and livelihoods with longer-term investments in health, education, physical infrastructure, and other essential needs.
In a new study, we propose...