A decade ago, the world’s countries agreed to a vision of the common good, the Sustainable Development Goals, and a plan to achieve that vision, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Ten years later, that effort is failing. Nearly half the world’s population—over 3.7 billion people—live in poverty, while gender injustice, hunger, and other denials of basic human rights are widespread. Since 2015, the richest 1 percent have gained at least $33.9 trillion in wealth in real terms, enough to end annual poverty 22 times over. Billionaires—roughly 3,000 people—have gained $6.5 trillion in real terms, more than the $4 trillion estimated annual cost of achieving the SDGs.
Wealthy governments have made the largest cuts to foreign aid since aid records began in 1960. Oxfam analysis finds that G7 countries alone, who account for around three-quarters of all official aid, are cutting aid by 28% for 2026 compared to 2024. Today, about 60% of low-income countries are in or at risk of debt distress, and debt burdens shouldered by middle income countries recently hit a 30-year high. Only 16% of the targets for the Sustainable Development Goals are on track for 2030.
Oxfam’s new paper examines the failures of a private investor-focused approach to funding development. A decade-long effort by major development actors to recast their mission as one of supporting powerful Global North financial actors has led to a track record of associated harms and mobilized paltry sums. The analysis also looks at the role of private creditors, who now outpace bilateral donors by five times and account for more than half the debt owed by low- and middle-income countries, in exacerbating the debt crisis.