-says access to finance critical to meaningful progress, transformation

 

GUYANA’S candidate for United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has called for a more realistic approach to the global development agenda after 2030, arguing that the ambitions of future development goals must be matched by the resources and time available to achieve them.

 

Speaking recently on the Global Dispatches podcast, Rodrigues-Birkett, who is Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain valid and important. However, she questioned whether the 15-year timeframe originally established to achieve the 17 goals was overly ambitious.

 

The UN officially adopted the 17 SDGs on September 25, 2015. They came into effect on January 1, 2016, with a 15-year timeframe running until December 31, 2030

She said the international community should take those lessons into account when shaping the post-2030 development agenda.

 

“Fifteen years to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals might have been very, very ambitious,” Rodrigues-Birkett said.

 

She argued that future goals should be designed with greater consideration for the practical circumstances facing developing countries, particularly their ability to secure the financing required to implement major development programmes.

 

She said, “As we consider the post-2030 agenda, we would have to ensure that our ambition matches the means of what we will be able to achieve for the next period.”

 

Rodrigues-Birkett maintained, however, that reassessing the timeframe should not be interpreted as abandoning the SDGs or reducing their importance.

 

“The goals remain very, very valid, very noble,” she said, adding that member states would ultimately determine how the next phase of the global-development agenda is approached.

 

She identified access to finance as one of the major issues that must be addressed if developing countries are to make meaningful progress.

 

Drawing on Guyana’s own development experience, Rodrigues-Birkett said countries require adequate financial resources to make transformative investments.

 

She noted that Guyana was once classified as a heavily indebted poor country and said debt relief had been important to the country’s subsequent progress.

“Without that relief, we would not be able to achieve what we’ve been able to achieve,” she noted.

 

Rodrigues-Birkett pointed to improvements in Guyana’s education and health sectors as examples of what greater access to resources can help countries accomplish.

 

She said financing must therefore remain central to discussions about the post-2030 development framework, including the terms under which developing countries can borrow.

 

The diplomat also argued that the United Nations needs to work more closely with international financial institutions, including those responsible for development financing.

 

She acknowledged that the UN itself is not an international financial institution and therefore does not control lending decisions. However, she said a secretary general could use the UN’s global voice to work with member states in advocating for changes to the international financing system.

 

“I would not be the secretary general to stand on a pedestal with a moral stick to beat the IFIs, [International Financial Institutions]” Rodrigues-Birkett said. Instead, she said the UN and these institutions should work together as partners.

 

She called for incremental changes that could have a wider impact across developing countries, particularly by addressing disparities in borrowing costs.

 

Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett said developing countries should not face disproportionately high interest rates compared with larger countries with similar circumstances.

 

She also pointed to the UN’s work on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, which seeks to account for vulnerabilities that may not be reflected adequately by traditional economic measures.

 

According to her, such tools could help international financial institutions better assess the circumstances of vulnerable countries when determining access to financing.

 

Beyond financing, Rodrigues-Birkett said the post-2030 development process should draw more heavily on the experiences of countries that have made progress under the existing framework.

 

She said the UN has a significant presence on the ground and has accumulated information about what has worked, what has failed and where adjustments may be necessary.

 

She said “that information on what has worked, what we may need to tweak, what are some of the challenges we see, what are some of the positives that we’ve seen over these last 15 years” would be important when the next development agenda is being considered.

 

Rodrigues-Birkett also suggested that the future agenda could place greater emphasis on helping developing countries attract private-sector investment.

 

She said there is significant capital available in the private sector, but countries may need greater technical assistance to understand and meet the conditions necessary to attract investment.

 

She stressed that the UN should use the lessons of the current SDGs to shape a post-2030 framework that is ambitious, while remaining achievable.

 

For Rodrigues-Birkett, the next phase of global development will therefore require realistic timelines, greater access to finance, stronger co-operation with international financial institutions and practical support to help developing countries attract investment.

 

If appointed, Rodrigues-Birkett would become the first Guyanese, the first Caribbean national and the first woman to lead the United Nations in its 80-year history.

 

She is seeking to become the next Secretary-General of the UN, with her campaign centred on institutional reform, effective multilateralism, and practical leadership at a time of growing global uncertainty.

 

Rodrigues-Birkett brings more years of public service experience spanning national government, international civil service, and diplomacy.

 

Her résumé includes service as Guyana’s Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Co-operation, Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Liaison Office in Geneva, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2020.

 

Academically, she holds a master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy, with distinction from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, and a bachelor’s degree in Social Work, also with distinction, from the University of Guyana.