The incoming President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, has said that the world is suffering mightily from a lack of trust, and while planning to do all he can to move the needle forward on a host of global challenges – from the climate crisis to the war in Ukraine and food shortages – he will also use his mandate leading the UN’s most representative body to help restore trust among nations and strengthen confidence in the international system.
“We are in a very dire situation [regarding the need to build trust]. And we must acknowledge that the UN is a mirror of the general [state of] the world. But the UN has always had another feature. It has shown solutions. It has shown opportunities,” Mr. Kőrösi told UN News in an exclusive interview.
The General Assembly’s standing as a global forum for dialogue and the role of the wider United Nations in building consensus must be seized, he continued, adding: “Opportunities are there for building trust among actors here, in this chamber,” referring to the iconic General Assembly Hall where the interview took place.
With this in mind, Mr. Kőrösi, a Hungarian national, said that, among other initiatives, he plans to regularly host a series of ‘fireside chats’ among UN diplomats that would “be very open, and very informal consultations on very difficult issues”.
Indeed, he said the participants discuss “issues that may have a direct bearing on the deliberations in the General Assembly. No formalities [just] investigating what are the facts [of particular situations] on the ground. I think it can build a bit of trust”.
The new Assembly President also told UN News that the theme for the body’s 77th session would be ‘solutions through solidarity sustainability and science’, aiming specifically to enhance the role of science in the UN body’s decision shaping.
“Member States are struggling with declining trust [and] division. Our task is to find solutions based on evidence; solid evidence that can help us move forward. Science can provide science-based evidence," Mr. Kőrösi said.
“We are not asking scientists to tell us what to do. We are asking scientists to show us the options and to show us what might be the consequences of our actions or inaction. Science should be invited as a ‘supporter’, but ultimate political decision-making remains with the Member States."
