UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “effective and inclusive” multilateralism that serves as an instrument of global governance, especially “at a time of colossal global upheaval and risk.”
“We need to give multilateralism the capacities to confront our challenges, not only to meet immediate needs but to enable future generations to meet theirs,” he told a virtual press conference at which he launched the UN’s Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 on Thursday.
“The problem is not that multilateralism is not up to the challenges the world faces,” the UN chief said.
“The problem is that today’s multilateralism lacks scale, ambition and teeth. And some of the instruments that do have teeth, show little or no appetite to bite, as has recently been the case with the difficulties faced by the Security Council”, he said highlighting the failure to reach consensus on crucial issues between the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
As the world body on Friday commemorates the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Charter, the founding document of the Organization, Guterres said there was a need to re-imagine the way nations cooperate.
“We need a networked multilateralism, bringing together the UN system, regional organizations, international financial institutions, and others. And we need an inclusive multilateralism, drawing on the indispensable contributions of civil society, business, cities, regions and, in particular, with greater weight given to the voices of youth.”
Underling that in the 21st century, governments are no longer the only political and power reality, Guterres said, “We need an effective multilateralism that can function as an instrument of global governance where it is needed.”
The Security Council has been strongly criticized for its inaction in dealing with the COVID19 pandemic and its failure to adopt even a single resolution on the global health and humanitarian crisis caused by the coronavirus.
“Let me be blunt, their relationships today have never been more dysfunctional. But I firmly believe that awakening will come when we recognize our shared fragilities, when the factors that today divide instead begin to force people to finally understand that division is a danger to everyone, starting with themselves,” the secretary-general said.
He said he looks forward to discussing these matters with world leaders during the high-level UN General Assembly session in September in whatever format necessary.
“We absolutely must come together to reimagine and reinvent the world we share.”
About the report he launched, the UN chief said not only does the report outline actions taken since the pandemic was declared, he said, it also offers a roadmap for building back better through greater global solidarity and unity.
“The pandemic has laid bare severe and systemic inequalities. And it has underscored the world’s fragilities more generally, not just in the face of another health emergency but also the climate crisis, lawlessness in cyberspace, and the risks of nuclear proliferation again”, he said.
The report reveals how the UN has been fighting the battle against COVID-19 on many fronts.
Response has been centred around three pillars: human health, recovery, and addressing the socioeconomic, humanitarian and human rights aspects of the pandemic.
Guterres reported that the UN has shipped more than 250 million items of personal protective equipment destined for health workers in over 130 countries.
The organization placed its supply chain network at the service of member states, and established global air hubs which have delivered nearly 70,000 cubic meters of medical goods in the past six weeks alone.
It is also supporting research into the development of an affordable and accessible “people’s vaccine” for the disease and has launched the Verified campaign to tackle “the plague of misinformation” surrounding COVID-19.
“My appeal for a global ceasefire has been endorsed by nearly 180 countries, more than 20 armed groups as well as religious leaders and millions of members of civil society. The difficulty is to implement it”, the Secretary-General said.
“My Special Envoys and I are working together to establish effective ceasefires and doing everything possible to overcome the legacy of long-lasting conflicts with deep mistrust among the parties and spoilers with a vested interest in disruption.”
This year’s commemoration comes at a time of “colossal global upheaval and risk”, as Guterres observed, falling as the pandemic deepens with nearly 10 million cases confirmed, climate disruption, protests over racial injustice, and rising inequalities.
Looking beyond the pandemic, the Secretary-General underlined the UN’s strong commitment to leading renewal efforts.
“We cannot go back to the way it was and simply recreate the systems that have aggravated the crisis”, he stressed.
“We need to build back better with more sustainable, inclusive, gender-equal societies and economies.”
