BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has donated 84 desks worth MK15 million to Namitambo Primary School in Chiradzulu to improve learning conditions for pupils.
The desks will cater for the pupils who previously sat on the floor due to a shortage of furniture.
Speaking during the handover ceremony in Chiradzulu on Thursday, NBM plc Head of Corporate Banking Division, William Chatsala, said the donation was part of the Bank’s efforts to support education through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
“This donation is about restoring the dignity of learners. One of the teachers told me that it is difficult for girls to stand and answer questions because most of them sit on the floor. With these desks, they can now learn comfortably and dream of a better life,” said Chatsala.
Chiradzulu District Commissioner, Francis Matewele, commended NBM plc for what he described as a timely and impactful gesture that will help improve the quality of education in the district.
“I would like to thank National Bank, ‘The bank of the nation’, for this donation of 84 desks for our learners in the junior classes. Most learners were sitting on the floor, but the bank has stepped in with K15 million to purchase these desks,” he said.
Matewele further appealed for a mindset change among parents and guardians, urging them to send their children to school.
Namitambo Primary School Head Teacher, Charles Majawa, expressed gratitude, saying the desks will ease seating challenges during examinations.
“Namitambo Zone is the biggest centre in Chiradzulu, and during examinations, learners faced problems because they had no desks. This support has come at the right time,” said Majawa.
The school has an enrolment of 1,221 learners.
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Having taught Physics for over 30 years to young girls, when experts called for transforming teachers and teaching for young people’s health, well-being and gender equality, it resonated strongly with me.
Before world’s largest gathering on sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice (International Conference on Family Planning or ICFP 2025) opens next week in Colombia, several experts are underpinning the importance of transforming teachers and teaching for adolescent health, well-being, gender equality and human right to health.
“Every child, adolescent, and young person, regardless of who they are and where they live, deserves an opportunity to learn and develop skills that will enable them to make safe and confident choices about their lives – and comprehensive sexuality education is one such life skill,” said Sai Jyothirmai Racherla, Deputy Executive Director, The Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW).
Provide CSE within the education ecosystem
“Though comprehensive sexuality education is such a taboo, it is an important aspect of children, adolescents, and young people’s well-being. However, we have so many barriers in advancing comprehensive sexuality education. As SRHRJ (sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice) advocates, one of our key agenda has been to ensure that we provide access to comprehensive sexuality education within the education ecosystem,” added ARROW leader Sai.
ARROW with partners had organised an important Asia Pacific regional multistakeholder technical meeting which had put teachers and teaching centre-stage while deliberating upon comprehensive sexuality education and broader SRHRJ.
Teachers can be good enablers to provide CSE
“We see teachers as one crucial stakeholder group and this multistakeholder technical meeting had pinned down on the teachers and how teachers can be good enablers to provide comprehensive sexuality education. Global research also says that teachers are most important school-related factors affecting students’ learning. Evidence also shows that addressing learners’ health, well-being and education, improves school education, school attendance, retention and learning quality,” said Sai.
Just providing comprehensive sexuality education not only improves the life skills but also it improves the learning capabilities across other learning arenas.
Teachers and teaching and young people remained central to SRHRJ agenda of this meet organised by ARROW, UNESCO South-East Asia, UNESCO South Asia, UNICEF East Asia Pacific, UNICEF South Asia, UNFPA Asia-Pacific and Education International Asia-Pacific in collaboration with SDG for Youth Student Network and Y-PEER Asia-Pacific Centre.
Over 160 people took part including civil society, youth, academic institutions, but most important stakeholder group were government officials from the Ministry of Education of 20 countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia regions. So many ministries of education officials coming together to advance adolescent health and well-being – and comprehensive sexuality education was one crucial pivot – was in itself a big milestone, said Sai.
Gender transformative education
“This meeting also furthered the agenda of gender transformative education,” said Sai Jyothirmai Racherla of ARROW. “Whole school and gender transformative approaches should connect curricula, learning environment and well-being. A whole school approach and a gender transformative approach must be included in teachers’ training too.”
“Grassroots voices and lived experiences of teachers were highlighted from the perspective of teachers. We need to better understand what is required for teachers to provide quality comprehensive sexuality education.”
Invest in teacher training on CSE
“One of the recommendations from this meet called on investing in high quality and inclusive pre- and in-service teacher training for comprehensive sexuality education. This is very important. We are not only talking about students’ curricula, which is also very important, and that is the agenda that we are all pushing forward, but in addition to students’ curricula we are also talking about teachers’ pre- and in-service teacher training curricula which should mandatorily include comprehensive sexuality education,” said Sai.
“We also advocated for stronger education system policies and investments in teacher training so that they can promote adolescent health and well-being. We also talked about the meaningful inclusion of youth, adolescents, and teachers themselves in the development of pre-service and in-service training curricula. When the training curricula of the teachers is being developed, there needs to be consultations of the teachers themselves and there also needs to be the consultation of youth and adolescents into such curricula,” said Sai.
Teacher class action research
“One of the other recommendations that came out of this process was teacher action research. So, within the classroom practices we need to enable teacher class action research so that classroom practices and the pedagogy can be improved and it can be more resilient to meet the needs of students seeking such education,” shared Sai Jyothirmai Racherla, who would also be speaking at the upcoming ICFP 2025 next week in Bogota, Colombia.
“There was also focus on how we measured teaching and learning of comprehensive sexuality education within education systems and the data that needs to be collected at scale across the systems,” added Sai.
Are we taking care of the teachers’ well-being and health?
“Another important discussion at this technical convening was around if we are taking care of teachers’ psychosocial health and well-being because teachers’ health and well-being also impact students’ health and well-being. So, we cannot just look at a very extractive way of ‘how we need to provide comprehensive sexuality education to students’ irrespective of what is the state of the teachers. Are the teachers having the right resources? Are the teachers having the right education materials? Are the teachers in the first place having proper facilities for them to be in a well-being status for them to provide comprehensive sexuality education?” rightly said Sai.
Youth voices echo in unison for CSE
“Beijing+30 are not only reflections and past commitments, but it is a call to action for the future. From the Asia Pacific regional multistakeholder dialogue on comprehensive sexuality education, youth voice echoed clearly that we need comprehensive sexuality education that is inclusive, right spaced and adaptable to our diverse realities,” said Zuzan, Y-PEER Laos and Y-PEER Asia Pacific Centre.
“Even today, many young people still face stigma, lack of access and misinformation when it comes to sexual and reproductive health. So, without addressing these barriers, SDG-3 and SDG-5, will remain out of reach,” added Zuzan. “Teachers are not just knowledge providers but role models who can inspire values of equality, respect and empathy in the next generation. Equipping teacher with the right training mean equipping adults with a skill to think critically, to make informed choices and to treat other with respect and dignity.”
“Youth participation should go beyond consultation. Young people must be a part of designing, implementing and monitoring programmes of comprehensive sexuality education. This means establishing mechanisms for youth-led accountability such as youth advisory roles, comprehensive sexuality education monitoring committees and intergenerational dialogues that allow feedback to reach policy making. Because accountability is not only about tracking progress, but also about sharing power and trust with young people,” said Zuzan.
“Looking ahead, accountability must mean more than just tracking promises – it must mean resourcing and implementing them. That means investing in youth leaderships not only through words but through real funding and capacity building, integrating comprehensive sexuality education into national policies and curricula, ensuring no young person is left behind, especially those from marginalised communities, building stronger partnership across sectors to break silos and accelerate progress on SDG-3 and SDG-5 and creating mechanisms for youth-led accountability so that young people have a real seat at the table monitoring and evaluating progress on Beijing+30 commitments,” concluded Zuzan.
Zuzan and Sai Jyothirmai Racherla were keynote speakers at SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights) session held ahead of International Conference on Family Planning or ICFP 2025 which will open next week in Bogota, Colombia. SHE & Rights session was on the theme: “It is time for accountability and action after UNGA High Level Meeting around Beijing+30.”
This SHE & Rights session was together hosted by Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) 2025, Y-PEER Asia Pacific, Y-PEER Laos, Family Planning News Network (FPNN), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and CNS.
Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is a feminist, health and development justice advocate, and an award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service). She was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at United Nations inter-governmental High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025). She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College; current President of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health, Gender and Development Justice (APCAT Media); Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024); and Host of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights). Follow her on Twitter/X @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
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BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s renowned artist MC Chris Loka is calling on well-wishers to support his initiative aimed at renovating the classroom blocks at Chilaweni Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Blantyre.
Through his registered organization, Mupacho Initiative, Loka aims to mobilize resources to address the urgent need for improvements at his childhood school.
Reflecting on his time at Chilaweni CDSS from 2004 to 2007, Loka credits the dedicated teachers for nurturing his aspirations to become a journalist.
However, during a recent visit, he was disheartened to find the school in a state of disrepair, with broken windows and damaged floors creating an unsafe learning environment.
“The significant changes I observed over the years were alarming.
“The classroom conditions are unacceptable, and I feel compelled to take action,” says Loka.
He estimates that the cost to renovate the classroom floors and repair the windows will be approximately MK5.5 million.
Head Teacher Ivy Mafunga-Genda noted that Chilaweni CDSS, established in 1994, has experienced growth in enrollment and staffing, currently employing 17 qualified teachers.
However, enrollment has declined to just 125 students, largely due to the lack of adequate facilities.
“Students today prefer learning environments with proper classrooms, libraries, and laboratories.
“Unfortunately, Chilaweni lacks these essential resources and has no piped water or electricity in the classrooms,” Genda said.
The school’s library and laboratory are in poor condition, lacking shelves and basic amenities.
Genda therefore expressed sincere gratitude for Loka’s initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance the learning environment and sustain enrollment.
She however urged alumni and community members to support this vital cause.
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The community gets together to repair a school in the city of Saraqib, located south of Idlib, that was destroyed by bombing during the Assad regime. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS
IDLIB, Syria, Oct 16 2025 (IPS) – The war has deprived thousands of Syrian children of their right to education, especially displaced children in makeshift camps. Amidst difficult economic conditions and the inability of many families to afford educational costs, the future of these children is under threat.
Adel Al-Abbas, a 13-year-old boy from Aleppo, northern Syria, was forced to quit his education after being displaced from his city and moving to a camp on the Syrian-Turkish border. He says, “I was chasing my dream like any other child, but my family’s poverty and the harsh circumstances stood in my way and destroyed all my dreams.”
Adel had hoped to become an engineer, but he left school and gave up on his goal. He replaced books and pens with work tools to help his impoverished family secure life’s necessities. He adds, “We are living in extremely difficult conditions today; we can’t even afford food. So, I have to find a job to survive and help my family, especially after my father was hit by shrapnel in the head, which caused him a permanent disability.”
Adel’s mother is saddened by her son’s situation, saying to IPS, “We need the income my son brings in after my husband got sick and became unable to provide for our family. In any case, work is better than an education that is now useless after he’s been out of school for so long and has fallen behind his peers.”
Reem Al-Diri, an 11-year-old, left school after her family was displaced from rural Damascus to the city of Idlib in northern Syria. Explaining why, she speaks with a clear sense of regret: “I loved school very much and was one of the top students in my class, but my family decided I had to stop my education to help my mom with the housework.”
The young girl confirms that she watches children on their way to school every morning, and she wishes she could go with them to complete her education and become a teacher in the future.
Reem’s mother, Umayya Al-Khalid, justifies her daughter’s absence from school, saying, “After we moved to a camp on the outskirts of Idlib, the schools became far from where we live. We also suffer from a lack of security and the widespread kidnapping of girls. So, I feared for my daughter and preferred for her to stay at home.”
Causes of school dropout
Akram Al-Hussein, a school principal in Idlib, northern Syria, speaks about the school dropout crisis in the country.
“School dropouts are one of the most serious challenges facing society. The absence of education leads to an unknown future for children and for the entire community.”
Al-Hussein emphasizes that relevant authorities and the international community must exert greater efforts to support education and ensure it does not remain a distant dream for children who face poverty and displacement.
He adds, “The reasons and motivations for children dropping out of school vary, ranging from conditions imposed by war—such as killings, displacement, and forced conscription-to child labor and poverty. Other factors include frequent displacement and the child’s inability to settle in one place during the school year, as well as a general lack of parental interest in education and their ignorance of the risks of depriving a child of schooling.”
In this context, the Syria Response Coordinators team, a specialized statistics group in Syria, noted in a statement that the number of out-of-school children in Syria has reached more than 2.5 million, with northwestern Syria alone accounting for over 318,000 out-of-school children, with more than 78,000 of them living in displacement camps. Of this group, 85 percent are engaged in various occupations, including dangerous ones.
In a report dated June 12, 2024, the team identified the key reasons behind the widening school dropout crisis.
A shortage of schools relative to the population density, a shift towards private education, difficult economic conditions, a lack of local government laws to prevent children from entering the labor market, displacement and forced migration, and a marginalized education sector with insufficient support from both local and international humanitarian organizations are seen as the causes.
The team’s report warned that if this trend continues, it will lead to the emergence of an uneducated, illiterate generation. This generation will be consumers rather than producers, and as a result, these uneducated children will become a burden on society.
Initiatives to Restore Destroyed Schools
The destruction of schools in Syria has significantly contributed to the school dropout crisis. Throughout the years of war, schools were not spared from destruction, looting, and vandalism, leaving millions of children without a place to learn or in buildings unfit for education. However, with the downfall of the Assad regime, several initiatives have been launched to restore these schools. This is seen as an urgent and immediate necessity for building a new Syria.
Samah Al-Dioub, a school principal in the northern Syrian city of Maarat al-Nu’man, says, “Syria’s schools suffered extensive damage from both the earthquake and the bombings. We have collected funds from the city’s residents and are now working on rehabilitating the school, but the need is still immense and the costs are very high, especially with residents returning to the city.” She explained that their current focus is on surveying schools and prioritizing which ones need renovation the most.
Engineer Mohammad Hannoun, director of school buildings at the Syrian Ministry of Education, states that approximately 7,400 schools across Syria were either partially or completely destroyed. They have restored 156 schools so far.
Hannoun adds, “We are working to rehabilitate schools in all Syrian regions, aiming to equip at least one school in every village or city to welcome returning students. The Ministry of Education, along with local and international organizations and civil society, are all contributing to these restoration efforts.”
Hannoun points out that the extensive damage to school buildings harms both teachers and students. It leads to a lack of basic educational resources, puts pressure on the few schools that are still functional, and causes a large number of students to drop out, which ultimately impacts the quality of the educational process.
As part of their contingency plans, Hannoun explains that the ministry, in collaboration with partner organizations, intends to activate schools with the available resources to accommodate children returning from camps and from asylum countries. This effort is particularly focused on affected areas that have experienced massive waves of displacement.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in 2025, 16.7 million people, including 7.5 million children, are in need of humanitarian support in the country, with 2.45 million children out of school, and 2 million children are at risk of malnutrition.
The phenomenon of school dropouts has become a crisis threatening Syria’s children, who have been forced by circumstances to work to earn a living for their families. Instead of being in a classroom to build their futures, children are struggling to survive in an environment left behind by conflict and displacement.
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 1 2025 (IPS) – Five years from the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we face a development emergency. The promise to eradicate poverty, combat climate change, and build a sustainable future for all is slipping away. The SDG financing gap has ballooned to over $4 trillion annually—a crisis compounded by declining aid, rising trade barriers, and a fragile global economy.
At the heart of this crisis is a systemic failure: the world’s most vulnerable nations—Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)—are being left behind. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville is a historic chance to correct course.
We must seize it.
LDCs: Progress Stalled, Financing Denied
Three years into the Doha Programme of Action, LDCs are lagging precariously. Growth averages just 4.1%, far below the 7% target. FDI remains stagnant at a meager 2.5% of global flows, while ODA to LDCs fell by 3% in 2024. Worse, 29 LDCs now spend more on debt than health, and eight spend more on debt than education.
USG Rabab Fatima
These numbers demand action: scaled-up concessional finance, deep debt relief, and innovative tools like blended finance to unlock private investment. Without urgent measures, the 2030 Agenda will fail its most marginalized beneficiaries.
LLDCs: Trapped by Geography, Strangled by Finances
Six months after adopting the ambitious Awaza Programme of Action, LLDCs remain hamstrung by structural barriers. Despite hosting 7% of the world’s people, they account for just 1.2% of global trade, with export costs 74% higher than coastal nations. FDI has plummeted from $36 billion in 2011 to $23 billion in 2024, while ODA continues its downward spiral. Official Development Assistance (ODA) has also declined significantly from $38.1 billion in 2020 to $32 billion in 2023, with projections indicating continued downward trends.
The Awaza Programme outlines solutions—trade facilitation, infrastructure, and resilience—but these will remain empty promises without financing. FFD4 must align with its priorities, ensuring LLDCs get the investment they need to transform their economies.
For SIDS, the crisis is existential. Over 40% are in or near debt distress; 70% exceed sustainable debt thresholds. Between 2016 and 2020, they paid 18 times more in debt servicing than they received in climate finance. This is unconscionable. Countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis should not be left on the margins of global finance. Nations drowning in rising sea level – which they did not contribute to – should not be drowning in debt.
We can continue patching over cracks in a broken system. Or we can build a more equitable foundation for sustainable development, and for that addressing debt sustainability is not only an economic necessity, but also a development imperative. No country should be forced to choose between servicing debt and protecting its future.
The Way Forward: Solidarity in Action
FFD4 must deliver:
1. Debt relief and restructuring for LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS to free up resources for development. 2. Scaling up concessional finance and honoring ODA commitments. 3. Mobilizing private capital through de-risking instruments and blended finance. 4. Climate finance justice, ensuring SIDS and LDCs receive grants and concessional finance, not loans, to build resilience.
The moral case is clear, but so is the strategic one: A world where billions are left in poverty and instability, should be a world of shared risks and responsibilities. FFD4 must be the moment we choose a different path—one of equity, urgency, and action. The time for excuses is over. The agreement on the Compromiso de Sevilla is the start – the real test will be its implementation.
As we move forward on those important responsibilities s and necessary actions, my Office, UN-OHRLLS, is with you every step of the way.
Rabab Fatima, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States
Sarah Strack, Forus Director and Christelle Kalhoule, Forus Chair
Farmer in Colombia. Credit: Both Nomads/Forus
SEVILLE, Spain , Jun 23 2025 (IPS) – Can the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) be a turning point? The stakes are high. The international financial system—so important to each and every one of us—feels out of reach and resistant to change, because it is deeply entrenched in unjust power imbalances that keep it in place. We deserve better.
Under its current form, the Compromiso de Sevilla – the outcome document of FFD4 adopted on June 17 ahead of the conference – reads like a mildly improved version of business as usual with weak commitments. To avoid being derailed, decision-makers at FFD4 must act with clarity and courage, and here’s why.
With predatory interest rates, the international financial system is pushing hundreds of millions into misery as several nations continue to be shackled by a deepening debt crisis. While millions struggle without adequate food, healthcare, or education – basic services and rights – their governments must funnel billions to creditors.
Shockingly, 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity – disproportionately in Global South nations, live in countries where debt interest payments outstrip education, health budgets and urgent climate action. This imbalance is particularly pernicious toward women, who bear the brunt of the failure of the gender-blind global financial architecture. This system fails to acknowledge and redistribute care and social reproduction responsibilities, resulting in women, especially those located in the Global South, lacking access to adequate essential services and decent jobs.
“The current model of international cooperation is not working, and its financing is also not working while we are facing a series of interconnected crises,” says Mafalda Infante, Advocacy and Communications Officer at the Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs, sharing their recently released Civil Society Manifesto for Global Justice calling for change and a restoration of fairness at FFD4 and beyond.
“Gender equality perspectives are absolutely central to how we understand global justice and financial reform, because let’s be clear: the current system isn’t neutral. It produces and reinforces inequalities, including gender-based ones. The debt crisis and climate emergency disproportionately affect women and girls, especially in the global south. We’ve seen it again and again when public services are cut, when healthcare is underfunded or when food systems collapse, it’s women who carry the heaviest burden. But at the same time, feminist economics also offer solutions. They challenge the idea that GDP growth is the ultimate goal. They prioritise care, sustainability and community well-being. They demand that financing should be people-centered and rights-based and accountable as well. So the role of civil society has been to bring these ideas into the FFD4 space to connect macroeconomic reform with everyday realities and to insist that justice – economic, climate, racial, gender justice – is indivisible,” Infante adds.
FFD4 offers an opportunity to reimagine a financial architecture that can be just, inclusive, and rights-based. This is not a technical summit for experts alone. It is the only global forum where governments, international institutions, civil society organisations, community representatives and the private sector sit together to shape the future of global finance, and it’s happening after 10 years since the latest edition in Addis Ababa.
But there are realities that decision-makers just can’t shy away from. While some powerful countries borrow at rock-bottom rates, other nations face interest charges nearly four times higher. We must thus ask ourselves: is this really a pathway to truly sustainable development or a continuation of profound financial injustices through something akin to “financial colonialism” ?
“Many countries like us in the South, are totally concerned that there can be no development with the current debt situation not discussed. The issue of debt vis-a-vis taxes is vitally important. The money that countries are collecting from the domestic mobilization of resources is all channeled to self-debt servicing. And debt handcuffs social policy. Without these resources, these countries cannot deliver on public services like health and education. There can be no way of improving people’s social indicators without addressing the question of debt stress,” says Moses Isooba , Executive Director of the Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF).
We call for a radical transformation of global finance that moves away from a system that enables “tax abuse” and outsized influence from a powerful few.
A crucial step for transformation is creating a UN Convention on Sovereign Debt to fairly and transparently restructure and cancel illegitimate debt, as many countries spend more on debt than on essential services.
In today’s context of shrinking development aid, the role of public development banks is ever more important in support of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Forus therefore calls on public development banks to work in partnership with civil society and community representatives through a formal global coalition and local engagement to ensure development finance is locally-led and reflects the real needs of people, rooted in consent and mutual trust.
Official development assistance (ODA) must be protected and increased, reversing harmful aid cuts that damage civil society as well as urgent and basic services. The UN has warned that aid funding for dozens of crises around the world has dropped by a third, largely due to the decrease in US funding slashed US funding and announced cuts from other nations.
Finally, governments should support a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, adopting gender-responsive, environmentally sustainable fiscal policies while disincentivizing polluters and extractive industries.
“Development financing must not perpetuate cycles of debt, austerity, and dependency. Instead, it must be grounded in democratic governance, fair taxation, climate justice, and respect for human rights. It’s also crucial to promote inclusive decision-making by strengthening the role of the United Nations in global economic governance, countering the dominance of informal and exclusive clubs such as the OECD,” says Henrique Frota, Executive Director of the Brazilian Association of NGOs (ABONG) and former C20 Brazil Chair.
FFD4 must ensure that there is a genuine space for civil society engagement, where all voices are heard and can influence financial decision making, to strengthen accountability and transparency, and to promote greater inclusion.
“The voices of the communities most affected should be included, otherwise large-scale development projects are not sustainable. Local communities and local civil society are the point of contact to make implementation more inclusive,” says Pallavi Rekhi, Programmes Lead at Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), reinforcing that FFD4 must shift from vague aspirations to binding, systemic reforms that rebalance power and serve justice.
“Don’t take stock of what has been done. Instead, look at what has not yet been done at this conference and you will see the immense challenges that lie ahead for the future of our planet,” says Marcelline Mensah-Pierucci, President of FONGTO, the national platform of civil society organisations in Togo.
“The continuous cycle of unfairness and social inequality must come to an end. The time to act is now,” adds Zia ur Rehman, Chairperson of Pakistan Development Alliance.
For many, the road to Sevilla has been long and hard and still, the world’s majority are left behind on this journey. The hard work continues after FFD4 on the need for bold leadership, real action and transformative change that can lead to a more effective and responsive global financial architecture.
