DSG/SM/871

Inclusive Dialogue Essential in Discussions on Human Rights, Rule of Law Dimension in Post-2015 Development Agenda, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Conference

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the conference on “The Notion of Progress in the Diversity of World Cultures”, in New York today:

It is a great pleasure to join you at the German Mission today.  Your programme is so rich and so intellectually stimulating that I would have liked to stay with you for the whole conference.  I thank the organizers for taking this initiative.  It’s a great relief to step away from the daily crises around the world in order to sit down and think about the direction we are taking for this Organization in this crucial year, 2015.

The theme of this conference, “The Notion of Progress in the Diversity of World Cultures”, poses an almost existential question for the United Nations.

The United Nations is essentially an expression of hope.  It symbolizes the hope that — through cooperation, dialogue and peaceful settlement of disputes — we can achieve a “better future”.

But how do we define this “better future”, and the progress that will take us towards it?  That is the basic, timely and appropriate question this conference is to address.

When UN Member States agree on aims and objectives, they are negotiating on behalf of a multitude of communities and cultures.  When the UN system acts to further these aims, it is in the belief that we serve the common good of all the people of the world.

From where do we then derive this kind of moral authority?  How do we know that our vision for a better future represents the aspirations of all peoples?

It is indeed a challenge to discuss notions of progress in a world of diversity — a world that is at the same in turmoil and uncertain of the way forward.

Seventy years ago, a group of nations made a bold and compelling attempt to lay the foundations for progress that could be endorsed by all of humanity.  The UN Charter was created.

After the trauma of the Second World War, charting the road to a better future may have seemed compelling and self-evident.  The generation of the founders of the United Nations, after all, had witnessed one of the darkest periods in human history — the period between 1930 and 1945.

Their hopes for progress as expressed in the Charter still resonate strongly today.  And I can’t resist quoting some of the most beautiful parts of the preamble of the Charter:

“To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”… “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person”… “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom…”

That this document endures is an indication of its drafters’ success in capturing shared and fundamental aspirations.

However, the Charter alone is of course not enough to guide us in today’s world.

The basic premises remain the same today — we work for peace, we work for development, and we work for human rights and the rule of law.  These three pillars of the UN are interrelated and mutually reinforcing.  But the context of and environment for our work has changed radically:

The threat of a world war between nations has receded, even if dark clouds have appeared.  But conflicts are spilling across borders with greater ease, especially when they feed on religious and ethnic divisions.  The next crisis spot and its ramifications are becoming more and more difficult to predict.

Today, our security concerns growingly arise from non-State armed groups, from terrorist and extremist organizations, and from transnational organized crime syndicates.

Our economies, our politics, our societies are now, I would say, “hyperconnected”.  Global supply chains and close-knit financial markets make shared and equitable growth a complex challenge.  The looming threat of climate change has reinforced the cost of pursuing development at the expense of nature and of others, including future generations.

Greater global connectivity and mobility have facilitated unprecedented exchanges of ideas and knowledge.  Human rights violations around the world are documented and made known to a degree that would have been unimaginable even two or three decades ago.  At the same time, the power of the Internet to mobilize people behind a cause is a potent but sometimes dangerous tool.

Moreover, the ease with which one can broadcast beliefs and attitudes compels us to face some challenging questions.  How do we protect free speech at the same time as we promote tolerance and cultural sensitivity?

In this world in turbulence, many people are again looking to the UN to chart the path forward.  They recognize that — in a world where our most pressing problems transcend national borders — good international solutions are in all of our interests — including national interests, if you look at it from the international political perspective.

Complex and rapid changes have sometimes outpaced the UN’s ability to respond.  How can we articulate “progress” in terms that better reflect the diversity of perspectives and realities on the ground?

First, it is today incumbent upon the UN to take into account a far richer, a far broader, array of voices than in 1945.  Not only are there now 193 Member States, in comparison to about 50 in 1945.  But we also increasingly recognize the need to hear the views of non-governmental stakeholders as well.  After all, the voices of 193 Member States cannot realistically and adequately capture the wealth of viewpoints in a planet of 7 billion.  Greater engagement with civil society and NGOs [non-governmental organizations] has enriched and legitimized negotiated outcomes among UN Member States.  And through online initiatives and social media, we can for the first time hear directly from “we the peoples” — to quote the first three words of the Charter.

Second, we in the United Nations must also acknowledge where there is still disagreement about the path forward.  We must ensure that we do not marginalize different and legitimate perspectives in our efforts to forge ahead.  For example, I am a passionate defender of the UN’s human rights and rule of law agenda.  But standing up for human rights does not mean ignoring the debate on the best way to promote them or on the balance between them.  We must listen to those, not least in the developing world, who argue that our human rights agenda has given social and economic rights insufficient weight in the past.

The UN Human Rights agenda must be seen for what it is — an agenda for all nations, all communities and all peoples.  Inclusive dialogue, especially on difficult and sensitive topics, is essential, especially as we now discuss the human rights and rule of law dimension in the new post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

Finally, we must pay attention not only to how we define progress, but also to how we measure progress.  We increasingly recognize that traditional metrics such as GDP [gross domestic product] may be insufficiently inclusive and precise.  The Millennium Development Goals of the year 2000 captured the world’s imagination and catalysed concrete action on the ground.  However, while several targets have been reached on the global aggregate level, we also know that this progress has left many people and communities behind.  Deep and serious inequalities exist and persist, both within and between nations.  “Leaving no one behind” is a call to take seriously for our work ahead.

2015, this year, is a milestone year for the UN.  The three upcoming meetings in Addis Ababa, where we will agree on a financing framework for development, in New York, where we will launch the post-2015 development agenda, and in Paris, where we are to agree on a new climate deal, give us an historic opportunity to chart a new era of transformative change.

Never before has the world had the chance to address such a challenging and complex agenda in one single year.  We are, in my view, attempting the most inclusive, the most nuanced articulation of what progress means in the course of UN history.

In meeting this challenge, the international community has embarked upon a consultative process of unprecedented depth and breadth.  Three years have passed since the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio laid the cornerstone for the post-2015 agenda.  Since then, all Member States, the entire UN system, a cross-section of civil society, business, the scientific community and millions of people from all corners of the globe, have spoken out, contributed, and, in different ways, committed themselves to this crucial journey.

To bring this work together into a coherent and universal agenda is a daunting task, as you will understand.  But I believe that we are seeing the emergence of a visionary, yet practical, narrative for a better future — one that will resonate with people across diverse societies.  And a narrative that takes into account the multitude of specific needs and circumstances in which these societies find themselves.

If we manage to achieve this, it will be due to the creativity and shared sense of purpose that has emerged across the human family in the course of post-2015 consultations, and other processes under way in today’s world.  And it will hopefully be achieved because we as an Organization have become better at listening, engaging and including.

Time will tell if we will have succeeded.  Critical reflection over time will also continue to shape our agenda.  The speakers you will hear at this conference will, I am sure, articulate viewpoints that may inform, surprise and even test our assumptions.  They will raise questions we must continue to probe, explore and try to answer.

The UN Charter is the solid foundation for the work of the UN.  But the agenda of the UN is not set in stone.  It must reflect a living, evolving view of the world as we believe it should be.  In our efforts to bring the world as it is closer to the world as it should be, we must strike a sensitive and difficult balance.  We need to reach a kind of “reflexive equilibrium”:  we must on the one hand strive to stand for and promote our aims and objectives, and on the other hand consider how these aims and objectives can become more responsive to needs and inclusive of diversity.

By doing so, we can hope to better define progress towards a future which truly serves all the world’s peoples.  And in this seventieth year of the United Nations — just as in 1945 — I believe we can agree that there is much room for hope and aspirations.

For information media. Not an official record.