Security Council Debates Poverty, Underdevelopment, Conflict
Note: Full coverage of today's meetings of the Security Council will be available Friday, 20 June.
Development is the first line of defence against conflict, but unfortunately it is facing an emergency just as conflict has increased to unprecedented levels, the Security Council heard today in an all-day open debate on the implications of poverty, underdevelopment and conflict for the maintenance of international peace and security.
In his opening remarks, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said it is no coincidence that 9 of the 10 countries with the lowest human development indicators are currently in a state of conflict. If current trends continue, two thirds of the world’s poor will live in conflict-affected or fragile countries by 2030. While there is no better way to prevent conflict than investing in development, unfortunately, “we are losing ground”, he stressed. The world is falling short by over $4 trillion annually in the resources developing countries need. These countries are also being battered by the limited fiscal space, crushing debt burdens and skyrocketing prices.
Noting the upcoming fourth Conference on Financing for Development starting next week, he said it’s vital to renew public and private finance commitments for development. “We need to provide urgent debt relief for countries drowning in unsustainable debt service”, he said, also stressing the need to reform the global financial architecture.
“Global human development has stalled just as violent conflicts have surged to levels not seen in eight decades”, said Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director of the Bureau for Asia and the Pacific in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “The coincidence is not lost on us”, she added. Nor is this an accident — it reflects deep vulnerabilities left unattended. “For the first time in 35 years”, she noted, progress in human development has slowed so significantly that over half the world’s poorest countries have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. And climate change is a “crisis amplifier”, she said, noting that compounding vulnerabilities are “driving people to move in the millions to find arable land, shelter, food and water”.
She added that conflict hits gross domestic product (GDP) fast, resulting in poverty unseen in typical economic slowdowns. In Myanmar, for example, urban poverty in Yangon alone surged from 10 per cent to 43 per cent in just the last few years. On the other hand, she said, citing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — every $1 invested in prevention can save up to $103 in conflict-related costs.
“This conversation echoes the very foundations of the African Union’s Agenda 2063”, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the Union’s Commission said. At the heart of that document is the recognition that the continent’s development is inextricably linked with peace, he said, adding that it is vital to “tackle the structural conditions that perpetuate fragility, marginalization and violence”. The international community must support African-led peace operations, particularly in regions where poverty is deeply entrenched, including by providing sustainable financing through UN-assessed contributions. Stressing the urgent need to reform the architecture of global governance, he added: “Our continent must no longer be seen only as a theatre of crisis but as a contributor to global solutions”.
“We cannot bomb our way to peace,” he said, “instead, we must invest in justice, dignity and opportunity”. In regions where education, healthcare and employment are limited, the prospects of peace are diminished. “Where young people see no future, they are more susceptible to recruitment by armed groups”, he pointed out. Highlighting the African Union’s flagship initiative — Silencing the Guns in Africa — he said it is not simply about disarmament or ending armed conflict; it is a comprehensive agenda for eliminating the socioeconomic and governance conditions that fuel violence.
Somalia’s delegate also called for stronger UN support for that initiative, adding that every dollar invested in prevention saves countless lives. It is also necessary to “address the unfinished business of colonial legacies that continue to shape patterns of deprivation and exclusion”, he said. Decades after independence, many States still contend with “arbitrary borders that divide communities, economic structures designed for dependency rather self-sufficiency and political institutions that serve distant interests rather than local needs”, he pointed out.
“This Security Council, the Bretton Woods institutions and the global trading system were created without meaningful participation from colonized regions”, Sierra Leone’s delegate noted. He also highlighted the “intensifying race for critical minerals and rare earth elements essential for green and digital transitions”. This has become a significant driver of conflict as external actors — including non-State actors — have fuelled tensions, prolonged conflicts and undermined Governments. He called for a stronger international framework and certification mechanism for natural resource governance to break the resource-conflict link.
“There is truth to the saying that being poor is expensive, since developing countries expend more to access finance”, Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana — Council President for June, speaking in his national capacity, said. He, as well as Pakistan’s delegate, were among the several who insisted on the need to reform the global financial architecture. Algeria’s delegate also called for “a broader perspective” — when reviewing peace operations, it is crucial not to impede the development dimension of other relevant mechanisms, he said.
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