Strengthening joint advocacy on debt justice in Europe
As the global debt crisis deepens, millions of people are being pushed further away from basic services like health and education. In March, NCA joined European civil society organisations to sharpen the fight for fairer debt solutions and stronger global rules.
Civil society demonstration at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, 2025. (Via Eurodad)
The two day strategy seminar on debt justice, hosted by Eurodad, brought organisations together to align priorities and strengthen joint advocacy. Today, 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on servicing debt than on health or education, while private creditors hold the largest share of debt in the Global South. Despite the scale of the crisis, there is still no fair and binding international mechanism for debt resolution, leaving countries trapped in slow and creditor driven restructuring processes.
Building on outcomes from the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, discussions focused on developing a common European strategy to advance a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt. Sessions covered theory of change, mapping of key actors, and identifying priorities for joint advocacy, as well as strengthening coordination on campaigns for a more fair debt architecture.
While the Seville conference represented a missed opportunity to secure more ambitious systemic reforms, it initiated several processes that NCA together with our civil society partners will follow closely in 2026. These include an intergovernmental UN process to address gaps in the debt architecture, a working group on responsible lending and borrowing, efforts to improve transparency through a global debt registry, and increased focus on tackling corruption in debt processes through the UN Convention Against Corruption (a proposal originated from the NCA report Resolving the Worst Ever Debt Crisis? Time for a Nordic Initiative.).
Looking ahead, collaboration among civil society actors will continue to build momentum for structural reform and debt justice. As part of this, NCA, together with Save the Children, Debt Justice Norway and Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment, will host a breakfast seminar on 6 May to discuss how Norway can contribute to reducing inequality and advancing debt and tax justice, through aid and development policy reform efforts.
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