Written by: Sherri Aldis, Director of the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC)
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says ‘we cannot build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents’. Many multilateral and national institutions were founded in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War. The new multilateral system’s main objective was to avoid the repetition of a conflict with consequences as brutal as those that the world had just experienced. In addition to the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created, setting the foundation for equality, dignity and freedom for all.
Since then, the United Nations (UN) has established itself as the main forum for international dialogue and cooperation, with 193 member states, playing a fundamental role in the promotion of international peace and security, human rights, sustainable development, disarmament, the fight against climate change, and many other areas that concern all humanity.
The UN has evolved over its 80 years, growing in membership and scope, covering new issues and fulfilling new roles. But the time has come for a deeper change, to adapt the entire multilateral system and international cooperation not only to today's realities, but also to the challenges of tomorrow.
In September 2024, the UN convened the Summit of the Future, where world leaders adopted a Pact for the Future, an unprecedented and historic document that is the culmination of years of negotiation. In such divided times, it is of great significance that countries were able to work together to commit to improving global cooperation, with the UN at its core.
Important steps were made, such as the most progressive and concrete commitment to Security Council reform since the 1960s, with plans to improve the effectiveness and representativeness of the Council. This included redressing the historical under-representation of Africa as a priority. The first multilateral recommitment to nuclear disarmament in more than a decade was made, with a clear commitment to the goal of totally eliminating nuclear weapons. Countries agreed to strengthen international frameworks that govern outer space, including preventing an arms race and ensuring all countries can benefit from safe and sustainable exploration.
The Global Digital Compact is the first comprehensive global framework for digital cooperation. It sets out to eliminate the digital divide, make the internet safer for all by tackling misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, and set up a global governance system for Artificial Intelligence. The first ever Declaration on Future Generations was also agreed to, with concrete steps to take account of future generations in our decision-making, and a commitment to more meaningful opportunities for young people to participate in the decisions that shape their lives, especially at the global level.
One of the main objectives of the Pact is to turbo-charge the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to end poverty and hunger by 2030. We have five years left to achieve the Global Goals, and much more needs to be done. Reform of the entire international financial architecture is necessary, to enable developing countries to access finance affordably and equitably. Climate action is a priority, with countries recommitting to the necessity of keeping global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
A key element of success in boosting the SDGs is working together. The British Council and the UN’s Regional Information Centre, which looks after UN communications in Western Europe, have been collaborating to expand public outreach on the Goals. Creative collaboration to engage with young people through a board game (Go Goals) or organising screenings of recent documentaries tied to the SDGs or other UN priorities, are impactful ways the British Council and the UN work together. In addition to sharing expertise and best practices on education and the SDGs, the two entities cross-promote campaigns on key international days, both locally and globally, such as English Language Day, International Youth Day, and gender-related days such as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, International Women’s Day.
Gender and human rights are core to the Pact. Countries for example underlined the importance for the next leader of the United Nations to be, for the first time, a woman. The time to implement all of this is now. A new phase for multilateralism begins, to create a system of international cooperation that reflects the current reality of the world and its main challenges, because as the UN Secretary-General says: "a fragmented world needs a common path".