Serb member and Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željka Cvijanović, is participating in the Fourth United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Seville. Cvijanović emphasized that many challenges are shared between Europe and the rest of the world, but that there remains a strong commitment to development and determination to work alongside relevant international partners on that path.
Together with other participants—heads of state and government—Cvijanović also attended a gala dinner hosted by Spanish King Felipe VI.
World leaders are discussing how to address the growing gap between rich and poor countries and how to raise the trillions of dollars needed to reduce that divide. Cvijanović addressed the conference, saying it is a valuable opportunity to talk about how to ensure more successful and accelerated development, and to overcome the challenges slowing countries down.
“The achievement of sustainable development goals is not just a political ambition—it is an imperative for the prosperity, stability, and dignity of our citizens,” Cvijanović emphasized.
“For Bosnia and Herzegovina, this issue has become a core principle of strategic planning, particularly in both entities. Although we are classified as an upper-middle-income country, we still face significant fiscal and structural constraints. Our per capita investment in sustainable development goals is still 62% lower than the average for countries in the same category, while our domestic savings rate stands at around 8% of GDP, which is far below the level needed to drive transformational development within the country,” Cvijanović stated.
The UN and Spain, as organizers of the conference, believe this is a chance to reverse the downward trend and close the annual $4 trillion financing gap needed to promote development and lift millions out of poverty.
“Seville offers us a great opportunity in this very difficult, uncertain, and complex time. There are not many such chances, which is why we must seize them and cooperate—so that, when we look back, we can be sure we did what we had to do,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“Countries need and deserve a system that lowers borrowing costs, enables fair and timely debt restructuring, and prevents debt crises altogether,” stated UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The United States rejected the prepared 38-page final document of the conference—negotiated by UN member states over several months—and announced its withdrawal from the process and from the Seville conference.
Meanwhile, Oxfam, a non-governmental organization, reported that wealthy governments are making the deepest cuts in development financing since 1960, expressing concern that countries of the Global South may now tragically veer off their developmental paths.
On the sidelines of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Željka Cvijanović held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Council António Costa, and President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović.
“This international conference provided the opportunity to discuss many important topics with Emmanuel Macron, António Costa, and Jakov Milatović,” Cvijanović shared on Instagram.
Source: RTRS
