Kenya is currently burdened by unsustainable debt obligations. External debt service payments have soared to the highest levels in over 30 years, diverting vital public resources away from the core pillars of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: social protection, education, health, climate adaptation, and resilient infrastructure. This is not merely an issue of financial mismanagement—it is the outcome of a systemic failure in the international financial architecture.

The Role of the United Nations and the Mandate for Reform

The Fourth United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), scheduled to take place in Seville from 30 June to 3 July 2025, presents a critical opportunity to correct structural inequities. We call on the UN to uphold the spirit and commitments enshrined in:

• The Charter of the United Nations (Articles 1 and 55);

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 22 and 28);

• The Addis Ababa Action Agenda (2015);

• The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

In this context, we urge the adoption and consolidation of the following key proposals:

• Paragraph 43(e): Establishing a UN-led intergovernmental process to close gaps in the sovereign debt architecture, including a multilateral sovereign debt workout mechanism and a global debt authority;

• Paragraph 43(e) alt2: Launching a General Assembly process to initiate a legally binding international convention on sovereign debt.

These proposals must be merged into a single, strong commitment to develop a comprehensive UN Convention on Sovereign Debt, anchored in international law and moral responsibility.

Core Components of the UN Convention on Sovereign Debt

  1. A fair, transparent, and independent multilateral debt resolution mechanism, ensuring timely and effective debt restructuring and cancellation;

  2. Binding international principles for responsible sovereign lending and borrowing, supported by national implementation frameworks;

  3. Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSAs) that account for social, environmental, and gender equity indicators;

  4. Automatic suspension and cancellation clauses in the event of crises such as pandemics, natural disasters, or armed conflicts;

  5. Legal safeguards against holdout creditors, using successful international legal precedents;

  6. Alignment with UNCAC, with rigorous anti-corruption standards and enforcement mechanisms;

  7. A UN-administered Global Sovereign Debt Registry for debt transparency, monitoring, and accountability.

A Moral and Theological Imperative

Faith traditions across the world reaffirm the ethical foundation for debt cancellation. In the Torah, the Shemitah law commands the release of debts every seventh year:

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release... every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor.” — Deuteronomy 15:1–2

The Talmud further warns:

“He who exacts repayment from a debtor who does not have, is as though he sheds blood.” — Bava Metzia 75b

Catholic Social Teaching reflects this ethic through the Jubilee tradition:

“You shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.” — Leviticus 25:10

Pope John Paul II asserted:

“Debt relief is not merely an economic necessity, but a moral imperative.”

Pope Francis has reinforced this call:

“No government can morally demand that its people suffer unjustly to repay a debt accumulated irresponsibly.”

These teachings remind us that the current financial system is incompatible with justice if it continues to impose suffering on vulnerable populations.

Colonial Debt and Reparative Justice

We reaffirm our support for Paragraph 10 of the Global Financing Framework, which recognizes the enduring relationship between colonial exploitation and modern debt systems:

“We acknowledge that it is an imperative for developed countries enriched through colonial action to pay the colonial financial debt to these countries that have suffered the impacts of colonialism...”

The structure of sovereign debt today is built upon colonial legacies. Therefore, debt justice is inseparable from historical justice. Reparative economic reform must be at the heart of any new financial architecture.

Kenya and other African countries must not be condemned to repeat the austerity-driven stagnation of the 1980s and 1990s. We call on the United Nations and its Member States to take this historic opportunity to correct past injustices and foster a new era of equitable development.

We therefore:

• Support the establishment of a UN Convention on Sovereign Debt;

• Endorse full, unconditional debt cancellation for Kenya and other highly indebted countries in the Global South;

• Reject any proposals that weaken or delay structural reform.

Let Seville 2025 be remembered as the moment when the United Nations lived up to its promise: to uphold human dignity, promote justice, and advance global peace through international cooperation.

For Kenya. For Africa. For shared human dignity.

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