– As prepared –
Statement by H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
10 December 2020
Excellencies,
Thank you for the opportunity to address such an eminent audience today.
This is a very timely discussion on the need for multilateralism.
I would like to thank Ali Çınar, the president of the Turkish Heritage Organization, and Richard Ponzio of the Stimson Center for inviting me.
2020 will be remembered as a year of extraordinary turmoil. The devastating pandemic has not only challenged the global and national political, economic and social fabric, it has also demonstrated how unprepared we are to manage an unexpected global crisis.
The muddled global response and growing death toll has tested the faith of many who believed an effective multilateral response can address one of the gravest challenges facing humanity.
Doomsday pundits have sought to project this as yet another sign of the impending demise of multilateral cooperation and more specifically of the form of multilateralism that is centred around global institutions led by the United Nations.
Today, we see growing rivalry between great powers, unravelling global consensus on shared values, interests and approaches, as well as growing inequity represented by widening wealth distribution between the rich and the poor.
Naysayers can point out the long list of challenges: armed conflicts in Libya, Yemen, Palestine and Syria. Festering and unresolved territorial disputes. The menace of terrorism. Existential challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss. The growing spread of trade protectionism.
Indeed, multilateralism is under threat and is facing one of its strongest tests.
But let there be no doubt, an increasingly interdependent and connected world necessitates more – and more effective – cooperation and multilateralism.
In my view, such negative projections fail to see that the year 2020 will also be remembered for another global transformation: the rebirth of stronger, more effective and reinforced multilateralism. In my view, no nation can become great by isolating itself. Global solutions cannot be found unless we approach global issues together, united. A rules-based international order must reflect the needs and challenges of our world.
Today, as President of the United Nations General Assembly, the UN’s main representative, policymaking and deliberative body, I have the privilege of deepening my understanding of what ails multilateralism and how it can be improved. And of the unique benefits this system brings.
The present shape of what we call multilateralism and its institutions came from the settlement following the Second World War and the clear need for enhanced cooperation between nations in the aftermath of the deadliest conflict in human history.
In the words of the UN Charter, we needed a forum that could be “a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.”
It was with that hope that, in 1945, led to the formation of the United Nations, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, later the World Trade Organization, the Bretton Woods Institutions, the International Court of Justice alongside host of multilateral agreements that have emerged in the political, economic and social arenas.
The scope and principles enshrined in the founding documents of these multilateral institutions remain valid to this day and are testament to the success and longevity of the multilateral approach.
At the core of the international system, there are three pillars, representing the shared needs and wants of the peoples of the world: peace and security, development, and human rights; each equally important, interrelated, and interdependent. One cannot advance without the other.
There is much to celebrate as we consider multilateralism. The plethora of multilateral institutions have made a real difference in peoples’ lives. Together with the support of many partners, these institutions have achieved more through collaboration and cooperation than could have ever been realized unilaterally.
Quiet diplomacy and the development of arms control regimes prevented the decades long cold war from turning into a nuclear conflict.
Peacekeeping Missions have kept the peace and protected civilians over the world. In many crisis-stricken places in the world, peacekeeping missions and UN humanitarian workers support those displaced by violent conflict or natural disasters. UN special political missions have helped defuse crises and promote lasting solutions to conflict. Electoral assistance has reinforced public trust in democracy, including in crucial transition periods.
The UN has established landmark global norms such as the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Multilateral agencies, funds and programmes have continued to grow to meet the ever complex and crucial needs of our global society.
And all of this has been underpinned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 and setting out fundamental human rights to be universally protected for the first time.
One of the most endearing aspects of our multilateral system has been, and remains, our efforts to alleviate poverty and support international development efforts.
The adoption of the Millennium Development Goals, in the year 2000, are an example of a global, cooperative approach to combatting poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women.
Did we achieve perfection against those goals? Certainly not. But we raised the bar and we raised it together, and this has inspired action at a scale and pace never before seen.
And our efforts continue. As we enter the Decade of Action, it has been recognized that implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a blueprint for a better world. Through its 17 goals and hundreds of targets, the SDGs represent the pathway to a world that is greener, more resilient, and more equitable.
These goals did not come out of the ether but were built on global consultations and the My World Survey, which drew on the inputs of millions from around the world.
And those consultations continue today.
As of September, over a million people had taken part in global consultations on the UN at 75. Through surveys and dialogues, people expressed their hopes and fears for the future, which were broadly united across regions, ages and social groups. Their answers provide unique insight into what the public wants at this challenging time for the world.
The survey results were very encouraging for the United Nations and for an advocate of multilateralism, such as myself. Over 87% of respondents believe global cooperation is vital to deal with today’s challenges, and that the pandemic has made international cooperation more urgent.
Six in 10 respondents believe the UN has made the world a better place. Looking to the future, 74% see the UN as “essential” in tackling the challenges.
However, respondents also want the UN to change and innovate: to be more inclusive of the diversity of actors in the 21st century, and to become more transparent, accountable and effective.
As we consider one of the greatest challenges of our time, the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that unilateral efforts to address the pandemic, and its impacts, have fallen short.
Aside from the pandemic, today there are overwhelming concerns about the climate crisis and the destruction of our natural environment – about biodiversity loss, about global inequality, about the digital divide.
So not only do we need a multilateral system, we need a system that is relevant for our increasingly globalized and interconnected world: a system that is flexible and able to adapt, quick to react to multiple challenges at the same time, to be responsive to the needs of people, everywhere, ensuring that none are left behind.
Not only do we need a multilateral system, we need a system that is relevant for our increasingly globalized and interconnected world: a system that is flexible and able to adapt, quick to react to multiple challenges at the same time, to be responsive to the needs of people, everywhere, ensuring that none are left behind.
The turmoil in the current multilateral system represents a strategic opportunity to shape multilateral institutions that can more effectively respond to emerging challenges. It must prioritise rebuilding the trust deficit in the rules-based global order and the core principle of cooperation; it must prioritize conflict prevention over conflict management; it must prioritise the well-being of the vulnerable and seek to close the widening gap between the rich and the poor, both within and across countries; it must prioritize the management of the global commons such as our environment, biodiversity and climate; and it must address the rising inequality amongst countries associated with rapid technological change.
It is important to note that reform cannot remain limited to the United Nations. Reform is needed in the multilateral system as a whole. We need more agile, responsive and accountable multilateral institutions, working together and in harmony with one another.
For its part, the UN reform agenda is a response to this need and is indicative of an ever-evolving multilateral system.
Specifically, Member States and the UN System are working to upgrade the UN, to ensure that it stays relevant and effective. Throughout this process is the understanding that the UN must be even more inclusive and consult widely and regularly with all stakeholders, including regional and sub-regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia, and parliamentarians to ensure an effective response to our common challenges.
Before concluding my remarks, I would like to make a strong call to all of you: never before have we leaned so heavily on the multilateral system, and not since the founding of the modern multilateral system have we been so challenged by resource constraints. Now is the time to mobilize your resources, to strengthen your efforts and to show unprecedented political will and leadership, to stand behind your principles and convictions, to ensure the future we want, and to recommit to the multilateralism centred around the United Nations we need.
Thank you.
