Themed “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all”, UNGA-81 is tasked with demonstrating that multilateralism can still produce concrete results through meaningful dialogue.
Reform to save multilateralism
Global peace and security are the most important issues for the General Assembly, as conflicts continue in Ukraine, the Middle East, and other parts of the world that have cast doubt on the ability of global institutions like the UN to maintain order or find solutions.
Restoring confidence is being undermined by divisions within the UN, particularly among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, who hold veto power. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pointed out the deep geopolitical divisions and deadlocked Security Council.
He said the UN must change to cope with the current geopolitical reality. “World leaders will be gathering at the United Nations in an era of deep uncertainty. At the same time, power is shifting, the world is changing, and our institutions must change with it. But updating our structures can never mean abandoning our principles. It must be applying those principles with even greater determination.”
On Monday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the P4M Summit called Partners for Multilateralism, International Law, Peace, and Prosperity was co-hosted by the European Union, Canada, and Kenya. Participants agreed to launch an initiative to promote multilateralism.
According to Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, “for multilateralism to forge ahead, its advocacy and its practice must both be strengthened. Reformed multilateralism is therefore essential. More participative deliberations and more transparent decision-making are both overdue.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s was in the spotlight as the highest-ranking Iranian official to set foot in the US since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February. Although there has been no suggestion that direct talks will take place in New York between senior US and Iranian officials, the attendance of President Pezeshkian, who is relatively moderate and has supported diplomatic solutions to the current conflict, is seen as a development that could encourage a new dialogue.
Technology governance and sustainable development
UNGA-81 topics will include global technology governance, particularly of artificial intelligence, stronger progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, combating climate change, pandemic preparedness, and honoring nuclear disarmament commitments.
The discussion of global technology governance, including reducing AI-related risks and narrowing the digital divide between countries, follows warnings from US technology leaders that AI development needs to be slowed to prevent catastrophic consequences for humanity. Their warnings are consistent with the UN's recent calls for legal and ethical safeguards to ensure that humanity maintains control of AI. But achieving that goal will require UN member states to resolve their disagreements, the most serious challenge being geopolitical competition.
“That is a universal problem. AI has no borders. We have a number of countries that have a very high capacity. And we know that those countries that have a very high capacity are exactly those countries in which the risks are bigger. But if the logic of competition prevails, the risk is a running to the bottom in relation to the safety, each one trying to overcome the other,” said Guterres.
The world has only four years left to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. SDG achievements have already changed the lives of billions of people around the world, but recent UN reports show that progress on some of the goals is slowing, so countries need to recommit themselves to action.
“More than a decade on that vision has translated into meaningful progress in the lives of people around the world. Nearly 1 billion people have gained access to safely managed drinking water. 1.2 billion people have gained access to safely managed sanitation. Electricity has now reached 90% of the world's population, with one-third of it supplied by renewable sources,” said UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman.
At UNGA-81, participants will also discuss UN reform and begin the process of selecting the next Secretary-General. There is growing momentum for a woman to take on the role for the first time in the organisation’s history.
