By Bunmi Yekini
Seville, Spain – June 30, 2025 — Thousands of activists took to the streets of Seville on Sunday in a powerful display of global solidarity, demanding an end to the mounting debt crisis faced by countries in the Global South. The mass protest, organised by ActionAid alongside a coalition of international NGOs, comes just days before the United Nations’ Fourth Financing for Development conference.
Carrying banners and chanting slogans calling for economic justice and systemic reform, demonstrators criticised the current global financial system as exploitative and outdated. They accused wealthy nations of maintaining economic structures that perpetuate poverty and suppress development in low- and middle-income countries.
“As we marched, we made it clear that the time for empty rhetoric is over; the world needs action on ending the debt and climate crisis,” said Arthur Larok, Secretary General of ActionAid, who led the demonstration. “We urgently need to overhaul and transform the current global financial system, which is no longer fit for purpose.”
Larok denounced what he described as the “hypocrisy” of rich countries, accusing them of advocating for sustainable development while maintaining a system that extracts resources from the Global South and excludes them from key financial decisions.
“This summit presents a lifetime opportunity to address the moral failure of the countries that keep holding on to the colonial system,” he added. “Over the years, we have witnessed countless pledges, endless discussions, yet a lamentable lack of tangible commitment to truly ending this debt crisis and re-establishing a bold, transformative global economic system under the United Nations.”
Protesters warned that without immediate reform, millions will continue to suffer under the weight of public spending cuts, austerity measures, and inadequate social services.
Roos Saalbrink, ActionAid’s Global Lead on Economic Justice, highlighted the disproportionate impact of the debt crisis on vulnerable communities, particularly women and girls.
“While rich countries continue to play the disappearing act and neglect their responsibility to cancel sovereign debts owed by Global South countries, millions are paying the price through cuts in education and healthcare,” Saalbrink said. “This is regressing hard-won gains on gender equality.”
According to ActionAid, over three-quarters of low- and lower-middle-income countries are now spending more on debt servicing than on health. The organisation is calling for sweeping systemic reforms, including full debt cancellation and fairer representation in global financial institutions.
As the Financing for Development conference opens this week, activists vowed to maintain pressure on global leaders to move beyond lip service and deliver real, transformative change.
“This is a moment of reckoning,” said Larok. “The world cannot afford another summit of empty promises.”