Alabali Radovan at UN summit in Seville

Seville (dpa) – At the UN Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, member states are discussing how to achieve fairer living conditions worldwide – despite the drastic cuts to US contributions. US President Donald Trump has slashed more than 80 per cent of funding from USAID, amounting to around a quarter of all global development finance. Germany’s Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan has already made clear that neither Germany nor the EU will be able to fully make up for the lacking US funds. “But we must still do everything we can to prevent the worst,” she said. The minister called for a joint European development policy. “Seville must deliver concrete solutions – to meet the massive financing needs in the fight against hunger and poverty, for climate action, global health and peace,” Alabali Radovan said. 

The conference in Seville aims to lay out new plans for financing the United Nations’ 17 global goals. With the exception of the United States – which is not attending the conference – the UN member states already agreed last week on a new agreement for development financing: the so-called Seville Commitment (Compromiso de Sevilla). In 2024, Germany was the world’s second-largest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) after the United States – which includes both bilateral aid directly to individual countries and multilateral aid through international organisations.