UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for worldwide engagement and support to renew the international financial architecture, which he said was created for a world "no longer exists".
Guterres made the remarks on Monday at the opening of the Financing for Development Forum, which takes place at the UN headquarters in New York from April 17 to 20, Xinhua news agency reported.
He warned that due to a multidimensional crisis, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are turning into "a mirage of what might have been," as communities and governments struggle to meet immediate needs.
Inequalities within some countries are regressing toward early 20th century levels, a time before women were allowed to vote, and before widespread acceptance of the concept of social protection, he said.
According to Guterres, the United Nations has proposed the SDG Stimulus plan to scale up affordable long-term financing for all countries in need, aiming to boost investments that will help to achieve the SDGs, relieve the debt burden of developing countries, and improve access to funding.
"In the longer term, we will not solve today's challenges by relying on the financial system that helped to cause them," he noted.The global financial architecture was created for a world that no longer exists, Guterres said, adding that "it cannot address the challenges faced today by developing countries" and "has failed countries at their moment of greatest need."
It is now widely recognized that the world needs an economic system that is coherent and coordinated, and reflects today's global economic reality, a system that supports stable economic conditions and helps countries to invest in the SDGs, he said.
"We need engagement and support from all corners of the world to renew the international financial architecture and make it able to face the challenges of today and tomorrow," said Guterres.