[LIVE COVERAGE] The United Nations Summit of the Future: Two Days to Reform Global Institutions and Rethink Global Governance

And that’s a wrap for Day 1 of the Summit of the Future. Let’s take stock of what happened during an event-packed day of dialogue for the international community.

The first day of the Summit of the Future took place yesterday, which opened its procedures with an amendment tabled by the Russian Federation that sought to reduce the scope of the Pact for the Future, accusing the West of seeking to create new obligations for the Global South while neglecting its previous commitments. At the same time, the Russian delegate criticized how the negotiations have been carried out for their alleged lack of inclusiveness and transparency, making the current draft ineffective and equal to a “vague declaration”. Subsequently Congo, holding the presidency of African Union’s Mission to the UN, presented a motion of no-action to the amendment on behalf of the African Group, stressing the urgency to adopt a united pledge for the future that could set a blueprint for future challenges regarding the climate crisis, the reform of the financial global system and digital governance. The motion of Congo passed with an overwhelming majority, but in addition  to the 7 votes against and 15 abstentions that did not show support or interest for the current Pact, it is important to stress that some of the countries that might have been present but not voting. In fact, among these 28 countries there are some of them that are either in tension with traditionally-dubbed “Western” member states or aligned with Russia, such as Venezuela, Serbia, El Salvador, Niger, Burkina Faso or the bulk of central Asian states.

After its  adoption, the Secretary General Guterres hailed the Pact for the Future as the way to “bring multilateralism back from the brink” putting at the center of his speech the urgency to overcome the huge inequalities threatening sustainable development, to reform international institution such as the SC, and to accelerate the phasing out of fossil fuels. After the remarks of the Secretary General, three representatives of the youth delivered powerful  speeches that urged world leaders to act upon the spirit of the Pact. Mohammed Al-Muftah reminded how “as a society, we embrace each other” and as the Assembly listened to him, a person with disability, without prejudice and judgment, we ought to act to ensure the same treatment for the other billion people with disabilities. Niria Alica Garcia, passionately spoke about our collective duty to stop the current “scourging of Mother Earth” and the suffering of people in armed conflicts such as the one that is unfolding in Gaza. She reminds that there is still hope as we are still here, and how the future path must encompass listening indigenous people’s voices of which there is a frustrating lack of mention in the Pact. Finally, Monica Malith warned that ignoring the global disasters and refugee crises would only deepen the current state of global disorder, inciting youth leaders not only to “get degrees, but we must exemplify leadership […] leaving the youth and the refugees go unnoticed only slights our collective responsibilities.”.

In the subsequent Interactive Dialogues and the continuation of the plenary session, many Delegates echoed the remarks of Guterres, calling for bold, swift and comprehensive reforms of the current international institutional and financial architecture. Especially among small countries and those with developing and emerging economies, a unified discourse emerged, signaling a broad consensus not only to affirm the text of the Pact, but to act decisively in its spirit. We remember in the Interactive Dialogue “Transforming global governance and turbocharging the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development”, a unity of intentions between the reflections delivered by the Representatives of the World Bank, IMF and WTO, and the speeches of countries such as Malawi, Liberia and Kenya. For instance, the latter called to bridge the financing gap necessary to achieve the SDG and reform development financing in order to prevent developing countries from risking defaulting. Similarly, in the “Enhancing multilateralism for international peace and security” interactive dialogue, almost every country stressed the need to reform the SC in order to be more representative, to prevent the veto power from hindering the GA works and ensure a more effective deployment of humanitarian aids and interventions. A more miscellaneous outlook featured in the continuation of the plenary session. In fact, some countries, such as Brazil and the Central African Republic, decided to put at the center of the debate calls for financial reforms or reflections regarding the achievement of SDGs, while others, such as Israel and Serbia, preferred to use the floor to bring forward unilateral agenda items loosely related to the state of sustainable development.