New York
\nSpending on aid is essential to promote peace in times of global turmoil and deep cuts to foreign assistance, the head of the UN Development Programme said Sunday.
\nIn an interview on the eve of a four-day UN conference in Spain that aims to rally fresh impetus for the embattled development sector, Haoliang Xu emphasised that investment in aid, trade and defence was \u201cnot a zero-sum game\u201d.
\n\u201cInternational development cooperation is critical to build the foundations of peace,\u201d said Xu, noting that a majority of the world\u2019s poor live in conflict-hit countries.
\nRich donors, notably the United States and European countries, have cut aid budgets and boosted defence spending as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East upend global security.
\nMilitary expenditure hit a record high of $2.7 trillion in 2024, up 20-percent from the previous year, said Xu.
\nBut the Chinese diplomat insisted that it was in wealthy countries\u2019 interest to support developing nations despite competing priorities and crises.
\n\u201cCreating foundations for peace, investing in stability in fragile countries help reduce the burden in countries where you have challenges of migration, for example,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cCrises in one part of the world will have an impact on other parts of the world that are currently prosperous and stable,\u201d added Xu.
\nLast year, the world was afflicted by the highest number of armed conflicts since 1946, according to the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
\nThe World Bank says the number of extreme poor living on less than $3 a day in nations suffering conflict and instability is poised to hit 435 million by 2030.
\nAt least 50 world leaders are expected in Seville from Monday for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, the biggest such talks in a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York Spending on aid is essential to promote peace in times of global turmoil and deep cuts to foreign assistance, the head of the UN Development Programme said Sunday. In an interview on the eve of a four-day UN conference in Spain that aims to rally fresh impetus for the embattled development sector, Haoliang […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-487670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n