Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I commend the Government of Turkey for hosting the second Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
The Forum comes at a critical time; the world once again faces the shocking realities of ravaging military conflict, and we continue to grapple with the impacts of a devastating pandemic. At the same time, climate change, nuclear proliferation, cyber threats, disinformation and a myriad of other challenges loom on the horizon.
We need effective diplomacy now more than ever.
The tragic ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a stark illustration of what happens when diplomacy is put aside: we return to a world plagued by death and destruction, where international relations is conducted through brute force.
During the 11th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly, I called for an immediate ceasefire.
I reiterate that call now. Lay down your weapons. Return to the negotiating table. There are no winners here.
I welcome the various initiatives by the international community, including by Turkey, to host bilateral talks between Ukraine and Russia. It is my sincere hope that through dialogue and negotiation, peace will prevail.
Excellencies,
Even as these extraordinary events unfold, the remaining threats to our peace, security and safety are not on hold. They remain as urgent as ever.
Conflicts are increasingly internationalized, with the involvement of regional and global powers.
At the same time, crises are becoming more fragmented. Multiple actors operate in loose and rapidly shifting coalitions, with different agendas.
Extremism and terrorism continue to flourish where there is poverty, hunger, inequality, and injustice.
Discrimination, exclusion and economic, social and cultural inequalities are exacting a devastating toll and creating an acute risk of violence and conflict.
Deliberate and often covert spreading of fake information, has radically changed the media and security landscape.
There is also growing concern over risks posed by large technology companies.
The arrival of new technologies such as 5G is making the question of who controls that critical infrastructure more important than ever.
As we continue to endure the impacts of COVID-19many governments in the global South face debt default and financial ruin, while their people face poverty, unemployment, hunger and despair.
The current crisis is threatening to undo the progress we have made over two decades in fighting poverty and gender inequality. Inequalities are threatening our democracies by undermining social cohesion. Added to this, the climate crisis continues to rage.
Unpredictable and extreme weather events are becoming more common. In the last few years, we have seen record numbers of people affected by heat waves, devastating floods, and some of the largest wildfires in recent history.
Furthermore, the damage we cause our planet will continue to have spillover effects – from mass migration, to resource scarcity.
Paradoxically, at a time when global cooperation is most needed to confront these threats, international solidarity is in short supply.
Confronted with a widening array of transnational risks, most governments are distracted or rather preoccupied with attending to domestic challenges.
Excellencies,
The UN is the heart of the international system. The fact that the world came together 76 years ago to create an organization to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems is extraordinary in itself.
But even more striking is that this organization, despite its challenges and shortcomings, has endured.
It has shown that the path to a better, more peaceful, and sustainable future is paved with cooperation, not zero-sum competition.
However, it would be useful to remind ourselves that multilateral institutions were built primarily to resolve inter-state challenges, not problems that transcend borders, such as financial crises, pandemics, terrorism, crime networks, threats to our oceans, or climate change.
We therefore must modernize our multilateral institutions, making them fit for purpose and better equipped to deal with the global and cross-generational challenges we face.
Excellencies,
We have learned from the COVID-19 crisis that we need to strengthen our collective ability to anticipate, prevent, and manage complex risks such as disease outbreaks, new wars, massive cyberattacks, environmental disasters, or other unforeseen events.
We need to revive and strengthen our capacity to tackle poverty and inequality, ensure inclusion, equal participation, and justice.
We need to build on existing initiatives and involve the relevant stakeholders toward effectively regulating the Internet in order to create a safe, free, and open digital environment, where the flow of data in a trusted environment is guaranteed.
We need to ensure that the global recovery reaches everybody. Protection of the environment and health as well as social standards must be placed at the heart of our economic models while ensuring the necessary conditions for innovation.
With the pandemic interrupting the education of millions of children and students worldwide, we must endeavor to provide new age education for all that would equip the next generation with not only basic skills and science, but an appreciation of different cultures, acceptance of pluralism, and nurture tolerance and respect for freedom of conscience.
We also need to ensure that the multilateral system is more open and inclusive to give young people, civil society, the private sector, academia, and others a spot at the negotiating table.
Excellencies,
Throughout the pandemic we have seen the extent of our global reliance on digital infrastructures.
The unprecedented incorporation of digital tools by international organizations, forums, and multilateral organizations in the wake of the pandemic has marked a new age in digital diplomacy.
We must ‘recode’ our diplomacy to align with these new realities. We must make use of the benefits, while avoiding the pitfalls of misinformation, or cyber security concerns.
Additionally, we must also use digital diplomacy to empower all people, everywhere. The digital divide that leaves billions offline must be closed. And we must accelerate efforts to empower marginalized groups, including persons with disabilities and women.
Excellencies,
We all know that women are vastly underrepresented in the halls of power, at all levels and in all spaces.
As I continue to emphasize during my ‘Presidency of Hope’ we must rectify this by removing barriers hindering women from fully participating in global policymaking and discourse, and from reaching their full potential.
At the same time, we must recognize the importance of empowering young people. We must equip them not only with skills they will need to address the challenges of the twenty first century – we must also instill in them the values underlying multilateral diplomacy, a love for multilateralism.
Through my Fellowship for HOPE, which I launched earlier this year, 8 young diplomats from under-represented countries have joined my office.
I hope that they will not only gain an insight into the workings of the United Nations, but that they will also embrace the principles of its Charter and become part of a new generation of multilateralists.
Because it was the Charter and its ideals that steered our forbearers away from the brutal world left in the wake of the Second World War. It was that trust in the multilateral system that helped avoid large-scale global conflict for 76 years.
However, for multilateralism to be more effective and relevant, it needs to work for everyone.
What we need more than ever is to recode multilateralism on the basis shared principles and goals to harness global cooperation to the requirements of a sustainable future for all people.
And it is our responsibility as Member States to demonstrate that we can deliver on this new kind of multilateralism.
And with those sentiments, I wish all of you a very robust and constructive dialogue.
I thank you.
