As world leaders and development experts convene in Seville for a landmark international development forum, Zia ur Rehman, Chairperson of the Pakistan Development Alliance, has called on the Global North to recognise and urgently address the structural inequalities and growing developmental divides between the North and the South.
This call comes as part of the powerful civil society declaration titled “We Stand with Billions, Not Billionaires: Cancel the Debt, Change the System”, which has been endorsed by over 1,000 civil society organisations from 114 countries. The statement calls for sweeping reforms to global financial systems and condemns the concentration of wealth and power among a small number of elite individuals, corporations, and creditor governments.
Zia ur Rehman emphasised that the status quo is not sustainable. “Global leaders, particularly from the Global North, must acknowledge that persistent economic disparities and debt burdens are holding back millions from accessing basic rights and opportunities. The longer these issues are ignored, the more deeply they will affect global stability,” he said.
He highlighted Pakistan’s economic strain, noting that the country pays nearly USD 25 billion annually in external debt servicing—resources that could otherwise be invested in education, health, and social protection. “Almost 45% of our population lives below the poverty line, and 26 million children remain out of school. These are not just statistics—they represent lives affected by systemic global injustice,” he stated.
Zia ur Rehman also warned that climate change is rapidly compounding these challenges. With increasing floods, droughts, and heatwaves, countries like Pakistan face mounting pressure on already fragile infrastructure and social systems. “We are already seeing the impacts of global inaction. The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat—it is a present and growing emergency.”
He urged decision-makers at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) to take bold and timely action, including restructuring unfair global financial systems, cancelling illegitimate and unsustainable debts, ensuring long-promised climate finance and aid commitments are fulfilled and investing substantially in public services and social protection.
“This is a critical moment. We must choose a path that places people over profit and justice over imbalance. The time to act is now—decisively and collectively,” Zia ur Rehman concluded.
