Making development cooperation work for today’s world

By Cristina Duarte, Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on Africa

When we talk about development cooperation in today’s world, we must ask ourselves: how is it that some countries spend billions of dollars on sending missions to Mars, yet 750 million people still lack energy access, and 600 million remain trapped in extreme poverty? 

This contradiction is troubling, as we all know that progress to achieve the SDGs by 2030 has stagnated. We need a serious reassessment of how development cooperation is working in our interconnected world.

Having worked as Cabo Verde's Minister of Finance, as a Citibank executive, and now as the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Africa, I've seen development cooperation from multiple angles—from the boardroom to the negotiating table to the realities of communities on the ground. And I can tell you this: the current framework isn't delivering what we need.

Here, I want to focus on three key ideas:

1. How international cooperation is shaped by the interplay between globalization and multilateralism.
2. The weakening of States as primary actors in development cooperation.
3. How these trends are fueling global inequalities—and what we can do about it.

The interplay between globalization and multilateralism

Globalization has transformed economies, but it has also created imbalances. During my time as Cabo Verde's Minister of Finance, I saw firsthand how foreign investments drove growth in our tourism sector. Yet, despite this economic expansion, much of the profit bypassed local communities. Hotels sourced their supplies internationally, financial gains flowed offshore, and local entrepreneurs struggled to compete. This illustrates a troubling reality: globalization's wealth often accumulates in select pockets while bypassing the people who need it most.

Too often, poverty eradication is treated as a byproduct of market forces, rather than as a deliberate outcome of targeted development policies. This mindset effectively outsources social responsibility to private sector actors and philanthropists, leaving development cooperation to become a secondary concern. Development should not be left to the goodwill of individuals or corporations—it is the fundamental responsibility of States. Ensuring education, healthcare, and social welfare is not an act of charity; it is an obligation, central to the social contract between States and their citizens.

After World War 2, multilateral institutions were designed to manage these imbalances. They intended to serve two roles:

• Facilitating globalization: promoting trade, investment, and financial liberalization.
• Regulating globalization: mitigating its excesses through development cooperation, labor rights, and environmental safeguards.

However, in today’s world the role of regulation and cooperation—has been crowded out. Too often, multilateral frameworks prioritize financial flows over social justice, weakening their ability to tackle inequality and environmental instability. If development practitioners are feeling sidelined, it's because they have been. We have been quietly pushed aside in favor of policies that prioritize profit over people.

The weakening of States in development cooperation

As globalization accelerates, states are losing their ability to shape economic policy in ways that support their citizens. When I worked with multilateral donors in Cabo Verde, I saw how governments—especially in smaller economies—were pressured to adopt policies that catered to global financial markets rather than their citizens' needs. This loss of control has had serious consequences:

• The erosion of the social contract: public services suffer as governments are forced to prioritize budgetary constraints over public welfare.
• Power shifting to markets: increasingly, it is financial institutions and private investors that dictate economic direction, weakening the ability of states to invest in their own people.

States cannot continue to bear full accountability for development outcomes if they are stripped of the very tools to deliver those promises. The social contract between States and citizens must be restored—a contract where governments prioritize their people's welfare, and citizens, in turn, trust in their leadership. Without this balance, development will continue to fall short. In this context, the President of ECOSOC’s call to revitalize the country-led process of development cooperation is both relevant and timely.

The consequences: rising inequality in a fractured world

The combination of weakened States and unregulated globalization has resulted in a dramatic rise in inequalities:

• In advanced economies, income growth has stagnated for middle-class families while wealth has concentrated among the top 1 per cent.[1]
• In developing economies, income inequality increased by an average of 11 per cent between 1990 and 2010.[2]

We need to rethink development cooperation for a just global order

Development cooperation must adapt. To achieve this, we need:

• Stronger regulatory mechanisms: we must enforce global tax policies, close loopholes, and strengthen labor protections.
• Reinforced state capacities: governments must regain the tools to shape inclusive economic policies that benefit their people.
• A shift in multilateral priorities: international institutions must refocus on tackling inequality, strengthening climate resilience, and supporting social justice.

The time for incremental fixes is over. To have a chance at realizing the SDGs, we need bold action—a reimagining of global governance that puts people at its heart, not just profits. 

Globalization necessitates development cooperation and multilateralism, but its governance structures need to be reinvigorated. While institutions have successfully facilitated economic integration, their failure to address inequalities and environmental degradation highlights the urgent need for reform. 

Strengthening regulatory mechanisms and enhancing accountability is crucial for a more equitable and sustainable global order. As we reflect on the critical intersections of globalization, multilateralism, and development cooperation, it is time for each of us to take a stand. The challenges we face are daunting, but the solutions lie within our collective capacity to drive change.  

* The views expressed in this blog are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of UN DESA.