The UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, has warned of the «terrifying domino effect of global aid cuts» that is contributing to the decades-long progress in the fight against poverty starting to «crumble dramatically».
«As countries turn their backs on international cooperation, we are witnessing a terrifying domino effect of global aid cuts, with one country after another announcing significant reductions in their aid budgets,» said Olivier De Schutter.
In his new report to the UN Human Rights Council, De Schutter urges governments attending the IV International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) next week in Seville to prioritize financing social protection through wealth taxes, «solidarity taxes,» and other innovative financing tools to prevent further setbacks.
«The world order that emerged from the horrors of World War II has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. In just a few months, that progress has begun to crumble dramatically,» declared the Special Rapporteur.
In his view, this «is a sad reflection» of these times in which «money previously allocated to life-saving development programs is now being redirected to defense and military spending.»
Specifically, he warns that official development assistance fell in 2024 for the first time in six years, and predictions estimate a nearly 20% decline by 2025. In his report, the expert details how these cuts are hindering humanitarian aid and exacerbating poverty, leaving vulnerable populations increasingly exposed to the intensification of the climate crisis.
«It’s a perfect storm: global aid cuts as the climate crisis worsens and wipes out people’s livelihoods and assets in a matter of minutes,» De Schutter affirmed.
Therefore, the Special Rapporteur has called on governments convening at FFD4 to adopt alternative financing mechanisms, including international tax reform and «solidarity taxes» in sectors such as transportation and finance, managed through a Global Fund for Social Protection, to ensure long-term and predictable funding for social protection in the Global South.
«It is in the least responsible countries for climate change where people have the worst access to social protection systems that could shield them from its impacts,» the expert stated. «More than 90% of the inhabitants of the world’s poorest countries lack any form of social protection, leaving them completely unprotected,» he added.
The expert referred to calculations presented before FFD4 showing how the international community could raise $759.6 billion per year, more than double the amount needed to provide essential healthcare and basic income security to the 26 lowest-income countries in the world, protecting people in poverty from the impacts of climate change.
«Social protection is increasingly recognized as our best tool in the fight against poverty, and it is proving equally powerful in protecting people in poverty from the climate disasters that are becoming a part of their daily lives,» he emphasized.
By advocating for the financing of social protection, the world leaders gathered at FFD4 would be taking «a strong stand against the deplorable current attempts to disrupt the international order, ignore the climate crisis, and abandon the world’s poorest.»