By Lucy Adautin
The UN General Assembly has endorsed a strategic plan, aimed at uniting the world’s increasingly fragmented countries to address the pressing issues of the 21st century.
These challenges, span from climate change and the rise of artificial intelligence to intensifying conflicts, growing inequality, and deepening poverty.
The 42-page document, titled, “Pact for the Future,” calls on leaders of the 193 UN Member states to transform their commitments into tangible actions that will positively impact the lives of over 8 billion people worldwide.
The pact was adopted at the opening of the two-day “Summit of the Future” called by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
He said the group was gathered to, as he put it, “bring multilateralism back from the brink.”
It includes; 56 actions on issues including eradicating poverty, mitigating climate change, achieving gender equality, promoting peace and protecting civilians, and reinvigorating the multilateral system to “seize the opportunities of today and tomorrow.”
Secretary-General Guterres, singled out a number of key provisions in the Pact of the Future and two accompanying annexes, a Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations.
The pact commits world leaders to reform the 15-member Security Council, to make it more reflective of today’s world and “redress the historical injustice against Africa,” which has no permanent seat, and to address the under-representation of the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.
It also “represents the first agreed multilateral support for nuclear disarmament in more than a decade,” Guterres said, and it commits “to steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.”
The Global Digital Compact “includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of artificial intelligence,” the UN chief said.
The compact obligates leaders to form an Independent International Scientific Panel within the United Nations to enhance scientific understanding of AI, including its risks and potential benefits. It also commits the UN to launch a global discussion on AI governance involving all major stakeholders.
The pact’s actions also include measures “to mount an immediate and coordinated response to complex shocks” including pandemics, Guterres said. It includes “a groundbreaking commitment by governments to listen to young people and include them in decision-making.”
As for human rights, Guterres said, “In the face of a surge in misogyny and a rollback of women’s reproductive rights, governments have explicitly committed to removing the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential in every sphere.”
“We have opened the door. It is now up to all of us to step through it because this is not just about understanding each other – it’s also about taking action. Today, I challenge you to take action,” Guterres added.
