Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,  

Mr. Dennis Francis,  

at the Opening of the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting for the Summit of the Future 

[As Delivered]  

21 September 2023  

Mr. Secretary-General,  

Excellencies,  

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

Let me start by welcoming you all to this critical Ministerial meeting.  

In one year’s, time, we will gather once more for the Summit of the Future, to hopefully agree on the shape and content of multilateralism for the years to come.  

Today’s meeting can help delineate priorities and strategies to achieve the impactful commitments and actions our future requires. 

Your strong engagement during our deliberations today reaffirms that multilateralism is neither dead, not obsolete.  

Excellencies,  

The Summit of the Future process is the turbo-boost needed to accelerate progress on the SDGs.  

We must reject letting the progress of the 2030 Agenda stray any further off course. 

The intergovernmental consultations on the Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations are meant to bolster the Pact for the Future.  

Together, these efforts propel us forward, establishing a framework for a stronger UN, capable of delivering the SDGs in the promised timeframe. 

Friends, 

Let me extend my sincere gratitude to all the co-facilitators involved in the intergovernmental tracks related to the Pact of the Future during the past session: Jamaica, Netherlands, Sweden, Rwanda, Namibia, and Germany.  

And let me thank you, Member States, for engaging in these discussions with an open and broad mind.  

Today, I urge you to continue down this path – to listen to each other, to engage in constructive dialogue, and through that, to embody the very tenets of multilateralism.  

I encourage all other stakeholders – civil society, the private sector, academia, and financial institutions – to amplify their voices and share their views. Your inputs are vital!  

The future belongs to us all – we must all play a role in shaping it. 

I wish you all a very fruitful discussion today and I thank you.