For over 25 years, the international community had grappled with the need for a more coherent, equitable, and effective sovereign debt architecture. Despite numerous proposals and initiatives, the global system remained fragmented and insufficient to address the complex challenges of modern debt crises.

The roundtable, co-hosted at UNU-CPR with UN DESA, UNCTAD, and the Government of France, convened experts and Member States to examine proposals for a new global sovereign debt mechanism, directly contributing to the call in Paragraph 43(e) of the First Draft of the FFD4 Outcome Document. Discussions focused on institutional analogs that had influenced debt mechanism design, assessed how they differed, and considered how they could strengthen existing initiatives by the IMF, G20, and Paris Club.

Participants reviewed a range of institutional design options—from legal frameworks to mediation forums and technical advisory bodies—and reflected on their distinct value, feasibility, and potential to improve predictability, equity, and reliability in the global debt system.