Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

UN chief slams rich countries’ treatment of poor states

UN chief slams rich countries’ treatment of poor states

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday slammed the world’s rich countries and energy giants for throttling poor nations with “predatory” interest rates and crippling fuel prices.
Speaking in the Qatari capital, Doha, Guterres told leaders of more than 40 of the most deprived states that wealthy nations should provide $500 billion a year to help others “trapped in vicious cycles” that block efforts to boost economies and vital services.

The summit of Least Developed Countries is normally held every 10 years but has twice been delayed since 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Afghanistan and Myanmar, two of the poorest countries, are not present at the Doha meeting of 46 LDC states because their governments are not recognized by UN members. No leader from any of the world’s major economies attended.

At a leaders’ summit ahead of the start of the general LDC conference on Sunday, Guterres hit out straight away at the way poor nations are treated by the more powerful.

“Economic development is challenging when countries are starved for resources, drowning in debt, and still struggling with the historic injustice of an unequal COVID-19 response,” he said.

The LDCs have complained that they did not get a fair share of the COVID vaccines that went mainly to Europe and North America.

“Combatting climate catastrophe that you did nothing to cause is challenging when the cost of capital is sky-high” and the financial help received “is a drop in the bucket,” said Guterres.

“Fossil fuel giants are raking in huge profits, while millions in your countries cannot put food on the table.”

Guterres said the poorest nations were being left behind in the “digital revolution” and the Ukraine war had fueled their food and fuel prices.

“Our global financial system was designed by wealthy countries, largely to their benefit,” he said.

“Deprived of liquidity, many of you are locked out of capital markets by predatory interest rates,” the UN leader said.

A host of presidents and ministers hit out at financing conditions for LDCs, whose debt has more than quadrupled in a decade to an estimated $50 billion in 2021.

East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta called interest rates “rapacious” and “insensitive.”

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera, the summit chairman, highlighted “broken promises” and said that aid was not “an act of charity” but a “moral responsibility.”

Wealthy nations had failed to keep a promise to give 0.15-0.20 percent of their Gross National Income to LDCs, the UN chief said.

With poorer states trapped in a “perfect storm for perpetuating poverty and injustice,” Guterres said LDCs required a “minimum” $500 billion a year to overcome their problems, build up job creating industries and repay debts.

He added that the UN would also “keep pushing” richer countries to hand over hundreds of billions of dollars promised separately to help poorer states battle climate change.

Under proposals a so-called Doha Programme of Action, a food stockholding system, will be set up to help countries facing hunger crises through drought and high prices.

It also calls for new efforts to help LDCs attract foreign funding and lower interest rates to ease the impact of their debts.

Bhutan will this year become one of seven countries — along with Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe and the Solomon Islands to “graduate” out of LDC status by 2026.

But they will gradually lose trade and aid privileges. Guterres said they risk becoming “victims of the cruelest sleight-of-hand trick — support systems vanishing before their eyes” and would need help after they move up the wealth scale.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
×