By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK – As the 80th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) approaches, reforms that world leaders have called for, require amendments to the U.N. Charter and according to media sources, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) seems unable or unwilling to make them. The battle-cry outside the U.N. has been resolute that fundamental changes are needed within the vast organization and that with all the present conflicts, the world faces those changes couldn’t come at a more opportune time. One bright spot is the Pact for the Future that the U.N. General Assembly just adopted. The pact was adopted after more than a year of negotiations headed by Germany and Namibia with the goal to rework multilateralism for a more secure, peaceful and prosperous global system. During the U.N. General Assembly meetings in late September, the pact was the focus of the two-day Summit of the Future. At its core is a focus on sustainable development, development financing, international peace and security, a digital future, youth and future generations and transforming global governance. Meanwhile, two related documents were approved by member states – the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.
Director of the U.N. Summit of the Future Michele Griffin who works closely with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the press that the pact contains “breakthroughs on issues where we haven’t had agreement in decades,” citing nuclear disarmament and Security Council reform as well as governance of new and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). The pact consists of 56 actions and it aims to create more equality for all member states across the board. There is a primary focus on reforming the international financial structure with an eye toward providing timely debt relief to countries with exorbitant debt and to reform multilateral development banks. Another major goal is to promote more inclusive and effective tax cooperation for all member states. Where the pact is concerned there is an urgent need for solidarity among nations, especially small island developing states (SIDS) since they have a special need when it comes to being dependent on climate and development goals in the survival of livelihoods and their economies. SIDS tend to be the most affected by climate change and face extreme weather challenges.
