From Surviving Uncertainty to Designing Certainty | UN Special Adviser on Africa | #FJDAA 2026

Under-Secretary-General Cristina Duarte, UN Special Adviser on Africa, delivers a keynote address to the Forum of Young African Diplomats and Associates (FJDAA) in Addis Ababa, February 2026. In "From Surviving Uncertainty to Designing Certainty: Seizing the Geopolitical Opportunity of the 21st Century," USG Duarte challenges young African diplomats to reimagine development by addressing Africa's structural exclusion from certainty—economically, financially, and institutionally. 📌 6 BUILDING BLOCKS: Africa's underperformance is by design, not accidental Why debt distress keeps returning: Africa's exclusion from certainty The opportunity: Seville and the pivot from projects to institutions The relationship between globalization and multilateralism How the crowding out produced a mis-profiling of Africa The Finance Paradox: why debt is the headline, not the diagnosis 🎯 3 IMPERATIVES FOR YOUNG DIPLOMATS: Rescue the second function of multilateralism Recalibrate the Africa–UN relationship from "ODA broker" to "preferred partner" Make the Finance Paradox central to debt conversations Key themes: Debt reform, development finance, international financial architecture, domestic resource mobilization, illicit financial flows, economic sovereignty, multilateralism