Multilateralism in a Changing World

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

4 July 2019

Professor Mahmoud El Said, Dean of the Faculty of

Economics and Political Science at Cairo University

Dr. Hisham Soliman

Excellencies, distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour to address this expert audience in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at this prestigious university. I am so grateful for this invitation and for the warm words of welcome. Shukran gazelan.

I also want to say a special word of welcome to the young people in the audience. You are our present and our future. You are central to any effort to harness our fast-changing world to our advantage. Thank you for being here today.

Dear friends,

The history of Cairo University is embedded in this country’s quest for independence, which is described so beautifully on your website as “not just the liberation of the land” but the “liberation of the Egyptian personality itself”.

We owe the founding of this University in 1908  to a wise and powerful Egyptian woman, Princess Fatma Ismail. Since it’s creation, it has become a beacon in Egypt – and throughout the region – for freedom of thought and cutting-edge research.

You have produced leading thinkers men and women.

And you are carrying the torch for the Sustainable Development Goals here through your community service and environmental projects. I commend you.

Your history is emblematic of Egypt’s long and deep engagement with multilateralism – at the regional and global level.

This city was not only the birthplace of one of the oldest civilizations, but a center of diplomacy in the ancient world. The earliest recorded peace treaty, of course, was drawn up by Ramses the Great and Hattusilis the Third – more than 3,000 years ago.

Throughout the ages, you have carried forward this legacy – exemplified today by your crucial role within the African Union, and your hosting of the League of Arab States. And you have been a friend to the United Nations from its earliest days. As a founding member, you helped to shape the Organization’s Charter.

As a leading light within the Non-Aligned Movement and G77, you charted a different path during the Cold War. You challenged now-discredited structural adjustment policies and helped to shape the notion of people-centred development.

As a major contributor of troops, you have supported vital peacekeeping operations. You have been an elected member of the Security Council five times, and more recently in 2016-17, you championed action on counter-terrorism as well as stronger – and more strategic – engagement with the African Union.

And, through Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali – the first Secretary-General from Africa – you provided the UN with an outstanding legacy. All diplomats and officials would do well to revisit his “Agenda for Peace”, and its far-sighted recommendations on conflict prevention, disarmament, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

As I discussed with President Al-Sisi, during the bilateral meeting he granted me yesterday, Egypt must continue to build on these rich foundations at this troubling moment for the United Nations and for multilateralism.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, I would like to reflect briefly on the UN’s achievements, before moving on to the confluence of crises facing the world – and the role that Egypt can play in addressing them.

In 1945, the founding of the Organization raised hopes for a new era of peace and prosperity for all – based on collective security and international cooperation. It is painfully clear – especially from the vantage point of this region – that this promise has not been fulfilled.

But we must not forget the significant advances that countries have achieved through the Organization.

Over the past seven decades, the UN has provided the framework for international laws and norms on everything from the promotion of human rights and gender equality, to the regulation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement.

On the ground, the UN is a major provider of development and humanitarian support. It has helped to clear landmines, boost school enrollment, contain deadly diseases and vaccinate nearly half the world’s children.

The General Assembly – our “parliament for humanity” – has been an essential platform for global dialogue and solutions. By championing self-determination and decolonization, it supported the independence of more than 80 countries, dramatically changing the make-up of our international community – and the expectations we place upon it.

And the UN has served as a guarantor of national sovereignty – which is enshrined in the Organization’s Charter and which reflects the pragmatism of its founders, who weighed the benefits of cooperation against the downsides of compromise and the heavy costs of war.

Excellencies, distinguished guests,

The world is in desperate need of such pragmatism today – as we face crises that require cooperation on a greater scale than ever before.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that we have just over a decade to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Doing so means limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees on pre-industrial levels – and ensuring carbon emissions peak next year.

According to the Climate Action Tracker, current pledges under the Paris Agreement put us on course for 2.4 to 3.8-degree rise – and a future of widespread poverty, water scarcity, hunger, displacement and conflict.

Time is running out. We urgently need to increase our ambition. We urgently need to unlock the benefits of climate-smart development – which the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate estimates could be as much as $26 trillion dollars in the next decade.

At the same time, we need to address long-standing challenges.

Conflicts are becoming more protracted and internationalized. After decades of steady decline, civilian deaths are increasing. I do not need to convey to this audience the growing threats we face from extremism and transnational organized crime.

Then there is deprivation. One in every 10 of us still lives in extreme poverty – 80% in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. At least half the global population lacks access to proper sanitation, to social protection and to essential health services.

And it is still the case that if you are a woman, an older person, a person with disabilities, or from a rural or minority community, you are more likely to be disadvantaged, marginalized and subjected to discrimination and violence.

In addition, we must plan how to handle emerging challenges – notably the major shifts that are occurring in demography and technology, which offer great opportunities but only if we manage them well.

Automation and A.I., for instance, could generate significant advances in productivity, job creation and innovation. But they come with risks. For instance, as many as two-thirds of jobs in developing countries could be lost to robots. We must have policies in place to ensure technological developments yield a net gain.

And finally, we must manage the big-picture trends, such as urbanization, mobility and displacement, and transitions in the global political landscape – as factors such as energy security and cyber capability grow increasingly important; as the world becomes more multi-polar but also more polarized.

This challenging, complex moment in which we find ourselves is often described as a crossroads. It is, perhaps, better understood as a series of tipping points – areas where we are approaching a point of no return, but also actions that could help us tip the scale back in favor of humanity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to outline FOUR of them today.

The first is climate change. We face a “hard deadline” on carbon emissions and we have – in broad terms – the knowledge, science and technology to meet it. We are even making progress on political will.

But there are many pathways to zero carbon. We are unlikely to have definitive answers on which to prioritize in the required timeframe. Our best bet, therefore, is to focus on the most transformative, scale-able steps we can take immediately.

The second is economic. We are producing more and better – and yet the world economy is slowing down. This situation may be due to current trade wars, and the weakness of international trade rules. Along with the volatility of commodity prices, new technologies and the loss of jobs, these factors – among others – are creating an atmosphere of insecurity and fear.

The third tipping point is the fraying of the social contract. Despite prolonged periods of growth, wealth has not trickled down.

Inequality is deepening. It is sobering to think, for example, that just 26 people own as much as the 3.8 billion who make up the poorer half of humanity. Globalization has brought great benefits but it has also increased vulnerabilities as governments are less able to provide a credible guarantee to their citizens.

Income and wealth inequality requires re-calibrating national and global tax policies, as well as quality education, access to decent jobs, and better governance scaffolds.

And the final is the future of our international system.

These trends and challenges have produced a crisis of confidence in governments and institutions. Justified concerns about unchecked globalization have mutated into a backlash against the very multilateral system that we need to ensure inclusive and equitable policies and outcomes.

In all regions, we are seeing a deeply worrying rise in unilateral sentiment, extremism and attacks of international laws and norms. This is creating a difficult environment for the important decisions we must take in the coming months and years.

We know from past experience that such trends can lead to war, and war between nuclear-armed countries could wipe us out. So too could inaction on climate change.

Dear friends,

Let me now turn to the good news!

While multilateralism might be under threat, it is still alive and kicking.

The overwhelming majority of states recognize that cooperation is not a threat to sovereignty, that – on the contrary – it strengthens states’ capacity to pursue their interests and solve their problems, whilst sharing the burden and the costs. 

And the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement showed that multilateralism can still prevail – even at this difficult time.

Together, these documents provide an action plan for saving humanity. Implementing them will do more to restore faith in multilateralism than any speech or research paper.

And we have three crucial opportunities to make progress:

First, the General Assembly’s High-Level Week this September, which will see Member States take part in key meetings, including the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development; the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit; and the High-Level Dialogue on financing for development and the Review of the Samoa Pathway for Small Island Developing States. We need every single meeting to count.

And second, the Beijing +25 commemoration, which will enable us to rekindle our commitments to women’s rights and empowerment.

And third, the UN’s 75^th anniversary in 2020. This is a golden opportunity to galvanize commitment to multilateralism, and to change the way we do business. It is a chance to make the UN more effective, more transparent, more accountable and more relevant to “we the peoples”. This means fully completing or building on ongoing reform initiatives – designed to improve our peace and security architecture, our management processes, and our development system – as well as moving forward on addressing longstanding deficits in the UN system:

• The democracy deficit, which has seen the Global South in general, and Africa in particular, underrepresented in positions of decision-making within the U.N. Secretariat, as well as in the Security Council, of course.
• The solidarity deficit, whereby policies and activities remain skewed towards the global North. We see this in the approach to refugees, for instance, where developing countries host the lion’s share, over 80%. We also see it in the decline of ODA in recent years, and the lack of access to concessional financing for LDCs and SIDs.
• And, finally, the stakeholder deficit. Our multilateral system has still not found meaningful ways to include actors – such as parliamentarians, local government, the private sector, civil society and youth – in decision-making and delivery. It is time we seriously think about partnerships.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Revitalizing the General Assembly  is a crucial element of addressing all these deficits. It is the “Parliament of humanity and for humanity”, where the Global South has made its voice heard, and secured gains on issues from south-south cooperation to the right to development.

It is the Assembly that must make progress on “making the UN relevant for all” – which has been the overarching theme of my presidency. As the ancient proverb goes: The seed cannot sprout upwards without simultaneously sending roots into the ground.

And this brings me to my concluding point – the need for leadership from Egypt.

This country was one of just four African states to sign the UN Charter in 1945. It was one of just five Arab states to do so.  African and Arab countries face steep challenges – as you know far better than I.  But you have enormous opportunities too.

For instance, seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies this year are predicted to be African. The Arab region, meanwhile, has huge potential to become a leader in renewable energy. With smart, strategic planning, you can make sustainable development a reality; and avoid the mistakes of so many in the Global North.

By working together, including through the African Union and League of Arab States, you can lead the charge to restore faith in our global governance system, and to make it work for all nations and all people, everywhere.

And by harnessing your “youth dividend”, you can generate benefits for the wider world.

Between now and 2030 – the deadline for achieving the SDGs – half the global population will be under 30. And 42% of them will be from Africa.

That is not without challenge. But too often, policy-makers see young people only as problems to be solved – associated with unemployment and unrest – when evidence shows that – on the contrary – the vast majority of young people play a vital role in promoting social cohesion and progress.

So my message to the students here today is: We need you. You are bold and innovative, willing to experiment to find creative solutions to the challenges we face.

You were born as global citizens. You understand, almost instinctively, that the problems we face require co-operation – across borders, sectors and generations.

Excellencies, distinguished guests,

I hope I have given you some food for thought, and I look forward to now to hearing from you and engaging in discussion. Let me close by quoting a few lines from the Nobel Lecture of Peace Laureate Anwar Al-Sadat, whose centenary you marked last December:

Peace and prosperity are closely linked and interrelated. Our efforts should aim at achieving both, because it is as important to save man from death by destructive weapons, as it is not to abandon him to the evils of want and misery. And … peace is a dynamic construction to which all should contribute, each adding a new brick. It goes far beyond a formal agreement or treaty, it transcends a word here or there. It requires vision and imagination.

Thank you. Shukran.