Emeritus Professor Marcus Miller and Economics Alumnus and Honorary Warwick Graduate Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin have been invited to join a prestigious commission that will address the sovereign debt and development crises affecting countries across the Southern Hemisphere.

The Commission of Experts is an initiative of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) and Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD). It is inspired by the Roman Catholic tradition of the Jubilee, an annual event once every 25 years, which can include calls for social and financial justice.

The Commission’s members are tasked with developing reforms to the international financial architecture that would enable countries across the Southern Hemisphere to achieve sustainable debt levels; allowing them to increase investment in healthcare, education, clean energy, and climate adaptation.

Professor Miller said:

“Joseph Stiglitz is, I guess, the prime mover behind the idea of producing a Jubilee Report on the Debt and Development Crises in Countries from the South, ably supported by Martin Guzman and Sr. Helen Alford.

“Inspired by the impact that previous pressure in the year 2000 had in promoting the HIPIC program for reducing the debt of many Heavily Indebted Poor Income Countries, they’ve contacted academics and practitioners in the fields of development and debt with the goal of generating an agenda of positive steps 25 years later.

“Having written on debt restructuring with Joe Stiglitz, I was invited to join the panel, which started with a nuts-and-bolts workshop last week.

“As well as debt write-downs and interest relief for the poorest countries, matched by commitments for promoting health and education and tackling the issue of over-borrowing, options for improving debt contracts and for IMF reserve allocations to assist with liquidity and rollovers were outlined.

“These and other proposals are to be embodied in a Report which - with the moral support of the Catholic church - is to be presented to the Finance for Development Conference in Seville in June.”

UN envoy Mahmoud Mohieldin, PhD and recent Honorary Graduate from Warwick, is also a key member of the Commission, advocating a greater role for Multilateral Development Banks and a comprehensive revision of IMF quotas.

Dr. Mohieldin said:

“I am honoured to join the Jubilee Commission among distinguished scholars and experts. Our task to suggest reforms to address the sovereign debt and development crises affecting developing countries is indeed challenging but very pertinent.

“Public debt in developing countries has surged at twice the rate since 2010, with median external public debt service rising from 5% of government revenues in 2010 to 8.8% in 2022. The creditor landscape has shifted significantly, with over 60% of lenders now being private, making debt more expensive and restructuring more complex. Concurrently, debtor countries now face a growing challenge of balancing essential public spending with debt service obligations. Given their costly debt service bills, many developing countries are forced to de-prioritize spending on basic social services, such as health and education, as well as essential investment in long-term infrastructure, ending up with limited capacity to achieve SDGs, the most important of which is combating extreme poverty. The problem today is not just countries defaulting on commercial debt but rather defaulting on development.

“As the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and also mandated by the UN Secretary General to lead a group of prominent experts to promote solutions for resolving the debt crisis, it is my conviction that the debt crisis of developing countries must be treated through a development-oriented approach that aligns suggested solutions with the SDGs. I am looking forward to continuing working with my fellow commissioner to present concrete, fair, inclusive, actionable and durable recommendations that inform the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), which will take place from 30 June to 3 July 2025, in Sevilla, Spain.”

• Read more on the PASS website: Press Release Jubilee Commission