Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks at the United Nations Security Council open debate on "Poverty, underdevelopment and conflict: implications for the maintenance of international peace and security", in New York today:
I thank the Government of Guyana for convening this important debate. Your theme highlights a fundamental fact: Sustainable peace requires sustainable development. The flames of conflict are too often lit and fed by persistent poverty and growing inequalities. Time and again, we've seen conflict engulfing lives and institutions, wiping out development gains and uprooting millions of people.
At the same time, we've seen how poverty, underdevelopment, inequality, injustice, hunger and exclusion can light the fuse of instability and conflict. Poverty breeds despair. Despair fuels unrest. And unrest tears at the fabric of societies - feeding mistrust, fear and violence.
When people are denied opportunity; when human rights are violated and impunity persists; when crime and corruption thrive; when climate chaos displaces and destabilizes; when terrorism finds fertile ground in weak institutions - peace can quickly become a distant dream.
It's no coincidence that nine of the 10 countries with the lowest Human Development Indicators are currently in a state of conflict. Forty per cent of the 700 million people living in extreme poverty live in conflict-affected or fragile settings.
And the situation is only getting worse. Conflicts are proliferating and lasting longer, displacing more than 120 million people from their homes - an unprecedented number of individuals with disrupted lives and futures.
Solutions are in short supply because of rampant geopolitical mistrust and divisions. The global economy is slowing, trade tensions are rising and aid budgets are being slashed while military spending soars. If current trends continue, two thirds of the world's poor will live in conflict-affected or fragile countries by 2030.
The message is clear: The farther a country is from sustainable and inclusive development, the closer it is to instability, and even conflict.
Across the 80 years of our Organization, the United Nations has worked to advance our three pillars of peace, development and human rights. This vital work continues today. From our 130 country teams supporting national development priorities to our peacekeepers helping countries navigate conflict and recovery; to our envoys and political missions mediating and preventing conflicts, and building bridges among communities; to our efforts to strengthen national protection systems and support accountability for human rights violations and abuses; to our Peacebuilding Commission uniting the international community around our shared cause of peace.
Through the New Agenda for Peace, and the Pact for the Future that Member States adopted last September, we are strengthening this work.
Throughout this process of review and reform, we are guided by a simple principle: Prevention is the best cure for instability and conflict. And there is no better preventive measure than investing in development.
Development gives peace a fighting chance. It's the first line of defence against conflict. But, right now, we're losing ground. After decades of steady progress, we're facing a development emergency.
Ten years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), two thirds of the targets are lagging. The world is falling short by over $4 trillion annually in the resources developing countries need to deliver on these promises by 2030.
And developing countries are being battered and bruised by limited fiscal space, crushing debt burdens and skyrocketing prices. The engine of development is sputtering.
The fourth Conference on Financing for Development starting next week will be an important moment for the world to fix and strengthen this essential engine. We must renew domestic and global commitments to get public and private finance flowing to the areas of greatest need.
We need to provide urgent debt relief for countries drowning in unsustainable debt service. And we must reform the global financial architecture to reflect today's realities and the urgent needs of developing countries.
At its core, this plan is about supporting countries as they advance both peace and sustainable development.
To ensure food security, education, health care, decent work and social protections. To invest in green technology and resilience to climate disasters and shocks. To build roads, and water and food systems. To deliver electricity to all. To close the digital divide and expand internet access to all - while guarding against the perils of new technologies. To build justice and governance systems people can trust. And to open the doors of participation so women and young people can build a more equitable, peaceful and sustainable future.
Peace is not built in conference rooms. Peace is built in classrooms, in clinics, in communities. Peace is built when people have hope, opportunity and a stake in their future. Investing in development today means investing in a more peaceful tomorrow.
Let's re-commit to the solidarity and multilateral spirit that has defined our Organization across eight decades. And let's ensure that the dividends of peace, prosperity and security are shared by all.
