Introduction

The present report looks back on a year of headwinds and hope for humanity. In 2024, deadly conflicts continued to inflict massive suffering and displacement. Our planet shattered new heat records. Poverty, hunger and inequalities rose, while transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence expanded without effective guardrails, and international law and human rights were trampled.

In the face of such challenges, the United Nations worked to translate our shared values into meaningful action on the ground for people around the world.

In 2024, through 40 special political missions and offices and 11 peacekeeping operations, we worked to prevent the outbreak, escalation and continuation of conflicts.

Together with partners, we delivered life-saving assistance and protection to more than 116 million people. In countries and areas that are enduring conflicts, such as the Horn of Africa, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and beyond, we delivered food, nutrition, water, sanitation, education, healthcare, shelter and protection.

We responded to disasters, including floods in South-East Asia and the Sudan, Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean, an earthquake in Vanuatu and drought in Southern and Eastern Africa.

In September 2024, Member States adopted the Pact for the Future, which sets out vital measures to help revitalize the multilateral system and its solutions for people and planet.

In the Pact, Member States called for strengthening the machinery of peace by prioritizing the tools of conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding. In 2024, we began a review of our peace operations, including peacekeeping and special political missions, to more effectively address today’s complex threats to peace and security.

The Pact also includes support for a Sustainable Development Goal stimulus and a call to reform the global financial architecture. Working with multilateral development banks and Governments, we are advocating changes in global economic governance in key areas, including debt relief, tax cooperation and strengthening the representation of developing countries at decision-making tables.

On the climate crisis, we supported 170 countries in preparing or implementing their nationally determined contributions to reduce emissions. We also provided funding and support for 35 developing countries to accelerate low-carbon development initiatives, such as electrification, energy efficiency and low-emission infrastructure, through the Global Environment Facility.

The adoption of the Global Digital Compact as an annex to the Pact for the Future was a milestone, showcasing the proactive response of the United Nations to contemporary challenges. It not only underscores our collective commitment to bridging the digital divide and promoting digital inclusion but also demonstrates our dedication to safeguarding human rights in the digital age. By addressing the pressing issues of our time, the United Nations is paving the way for a more equitable and sustainable future, ensuring that digital technologies are harnessed for the benefit of all humanity.

Now in the implementation phase, we began developing a report on innovative voluntary financing for artificial intelligence so that all countries can benefit from the technology and are now working to support Member States as they establish an Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and a Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance to develop effective global guardrails that protect people as the technology expands.

We also made progress in keeping the promises set out in the Pact on delivering for youth and future generations. For example, we began developing a Global Youth Investment Platform to ensure that national funding mechanisms and investment platforms are focused on the needs of young people.

In line with the Declaration on Future Generations, also adopted in September, we applied strategic foresight to planning, policy and action, including through multi-year strategic plans for the United Nations, and established a strategic foresight network and community of practice to ensure that our policies, programmes and field operations are aligned with the challenges we foresee in the years ahead.

In all aspects of this important work, we consolidated our United Nations 2.0 initiative to enhance efficiencies and innovations across the Organization by harnessing data analytics and digital transformation.

Our vital work depends on fostering a supportive and respective workplace that truly represents the people of our world. We have achieved gender parity among senior leadership and resident coordinators since 2020, and for the first time in our history, we reached gender parity in the Professional and higher categories.

In 2024, through the work of our network of Anti-Racism Advocates, we continued to engage with staff and leadership across our Organization and deliver training, advocacy and accountability reviews to ensure that the United Nations always lives up to its values, within our Organization and beyond.

The present report demonstrates that despite enormously trying times – indeed, precisely because of them – we can and must keep pushing for the better world that we know is within reach. We will renew our efforts to achieve peace, foster sustainable development and defend and uphold human rights, for all of humanity.