838 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, meaning they have less than three US dollars per day to cover basic needs. Extreme poverty constitutes one of the gravest violations of human rights. Expanding inclusive, shock-responsive social protection systems is essential. However, 2 billion people in low- and middle-income countries remain either entirely without or inadequately covered by social protection systems.
Yet, building such systems is highly cost-intensive. Most low- and middle-income countries are heavily indebted or face unsustainable debt burdens, leaving them with little to no fiscal space to expand social protection schemes. Sovereign debt and austerity policies to consolidate state finances severely constrain their ability to invest in essential public services such as social protection, healthcare, and education.
This event explores the interconnections between sovereign debt, extreme poverty, and human rights. Our discussion will link the outcomes of Second World Summit for Social Development to those of the outcomes of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) as outlined in the Sevilla Commitment. The focus will be on how the international debt architecture has to be reformed in order to lower debt burdens and increase fiscal space of low- and middle-income countries to provide social protection for the most vulnerable and marginalized people.
Date and Time
4 November 2025, 14.00 – 15:30 CEST (15:00 – 16:30 GMT+3)
Location
Virtual Event via ZOOM, Link will be provided with registration
Registration
Information on how to register for this event will be in the invitation below.
Contact
Dr. Sonja Grigat (s.grigat(at)venro.org)
Agenda
The agenda can be found below.