President William Ruto has challenged the structures of multilateral institutions, arguing that they have failed to address the challenges facing developing countries. Speaking during an interactive dialogue at the Summit of the Future at the United Nations General Assembly, Ruto warned that structural issues pose a risk to developing nations and could prevent them from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
“The upcoming fourth International Conference on Financing for Development may be our last opportunity to make the radical changes needed to realign our development priorities and meet the SDGs by 2030,” Ruto stated during the September 22 session, which was attended by leaders from other UN member states.
He criticized the current system within institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, saying it is failing to address the complex challenges faced by developing nations and is instead having a negative impact.
“We must urgently close financing gaps, bridge international divides, and restore trust in multilateralism,” he asserted. “We also must recognize that the existing multilateral institutional framework is either dysfunctional or highly ineffective and cannot be relied upon to provide the solutions the world urgently needs. This is why countries are increasingly turning to innovative, homegrown approaches to solve their most pressing problems.”
The president highlighted challenges such as limited fiscal capacity, rising debt, an unfair credit framework, and uneven interest rates as obstacles to achieving the SDGs in developing nations. He emphasized that in the face of deteriorating global economic conditions, exacerbated by the ongoing climate crisis, these issues limit opportunities, especially for low-income countries.
“Today, one in three developing countries is at risk of defaulting on their debt obligations. An unfair and unjust global financial system is compounding economic crises and deepening inequalities,” Ruto argued.
He further pointed out that development financing by multilateral organizations is not keeping pace with the economic realities and urgent needs of the developing world, contributing to a growing gap between developed and developing nations and resulting in global inequality.
Ruto is among the Heads of State at the Summit of the Future who witnessed the adoption of the Pact for the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations, and the Global Digital Compact.
