H.E. Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, H.E. Mr. Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister for Nordic Cooperation/Minister of Social Affairs and the Labour Market of Iceland, H.E. Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Minister of International Development of Norway, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,

It is a pleasure to join you here today.

I am grateful to the Government and people of Iceland for hosting us and for Iceland’s consistent voice in support of peace, dignity and sustainable development.

There is no peace without sustainable development and there is no development without peace – and there is neither development nor peace without human rights.  

The Nordic nations have long been promoters of peace, supporters of sustainable development, and champions of multilateralism. 

You have been a part of the United Nations family since its earliest days. You have helped to maintain peace far from your shores. You have showed that the rule of law and good governance are the bedrock of a just society. 

And you have come together to advance human rights and alleviate suffering around the world especially our women and girls.

Today, that leadership role is more important than ever. 

The world is in the midst of multiple crises. Crises that feed off each other, inflame one another, and create conditions in which conflict can ignite and spread across borders.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused immense suffering for Ukrainians and pushed up food and energy prices around the world. 

As I was traveling to Iceland, the horrendous conflict between Israel and Palestine has taken the center stage again, with tragic consequences.

We are facing a full-blown war... Again. Civilians are the main victims - women, children, the elderly. The Secretary-General has called for the immediate release of all citizens abducted from Israel.

He is urging for diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration, with focus on peace and negotiations around a two-state solution. We must stop the human suffering and embrace peace.

Sadly, the reality is that violence and conflict are on the rise, with impacts reversing development gains across the world.

Neighbors of Sudan, like Chad, for example, are under immense pressure from the breakdown in cross-border trade combined with a flow of over 1 million refugees in the space of a month. Giving so much with so little.

Terrorism is gaining a stronger foothold in the Sahel, exploiting the climate crisis for its own ends and doing everything it can to undermine democratic governance.  

In the Sahel and beyond, changing weather patterns are conspiring with rapid urban expansion in ways that are overwhelming the traditional governance mechanisms, which had previously managed to ensure harmonious relations between farmers and herders for generations.

It is now clear that as we continue to fight for peace on earth, we must also seek peace with nature.
The world has fought nature for too long. It is now fighting back with extreme weather events – from Pakistan, through Spain, to Hawaii, and so many other places. No country is spared.

Meanwhile, our economic engine rooms are failing to deliver the decent, dignified jobs that give hope to our youth and address the root causes of conflict.

For the first time in a generation, the number of people in extreme poverty has risen.

A record number of people have been forced from their homes.  

Hunger is growing – a result of conflict, covid, climate and inequality.

And many developing countries are drowning in debt and facing financial catastrophe. 
 
Excellencies,

These great challenges of our times have two common themes.  

First, they are born of exclusion. Of leaving people behind. 

Second, they require multilateral solutions.  

Each of the major issues we face goes well beyond the ability of any single State to manage. 

Yet, at this time when international cooperation is most needed, it is threatened.

Growing geopolitical divides are putting multilateralism under strain. 

Our international institutions are out of date. In particular, the United Nations Security Council reflects the world as it was eighty years ago. Not the world of today. 

And skepticism is rising, fueled by the anger stirred when the international community makes promises it does not keep.  

The multilateral system – which has done so much to advance peace over the past eight decades – is fracturing. 

And that should worry all of us who care about peace. 
 
Excellencies, 

I see two important paths forward. Paths towards creating a peaceful future for people and planet.

First, we must double down on sustainable development. 

The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, are our guiding principles for a better future.  

They are our compass to inclusive prosperity.

And our best hope for achieving sustainable peace around the world - amongst people and with nature.

Peace is one promise of the SDGs. 

But all the seventeen Goals are interconnected – without sustainable development, peace is at risk. 

The Goals speak directly to the root causes of conflict – it is only with inclusive, empowering education systems leading to dignified, decent jobs that the recruitment efforts of terrorist organizations fall on deaf ears.

It is only with responsive, resilient state institutions that meet the needs and priorities of all stakeholders, and that protect equal rights and ensure equal opportunities for all, not the least women and girls.

Take Somalia, for example, where the UN is working hand in hand with the authorities under the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.  Every step we take to the fulfilment of 2030 Agenda is a step towards resilience, security and prosperity.  Every step we take together is a blow to those who try to force us apart.  

We must implement the 2030 Agenda in its entirety to address the inequalities that fuel conflict – be they economic, social, environmental, intergenerational, political or barriers that continue to limit the participation of women.  

Yet, the SDGs and climate commitments are dangerously off track. 

Halfway to the 2030 deadline, we have only reached 15 per cent of our targets and the annual SDG financing gap in developing countries stands at USD 3.9 trillion annually.  

Countries burdened with unsustainable debt, facing financial ruin, simply can’t afford to invest in the SDGs. 

If we continue at this rate, we fail. It is as simple as that. 

The SDGs need an urgent rescue plan. 

That is why the SDG Summit was a centerpiece of this year’s UN General Assembly High-Level Week. 

And I am pleased to say that it resulted in a powerful Political Declaration, and that several national and global commitments were announced, including from Nordic nations. 

Thanks to the steadfast support of Nordic countries and other key champions, the United Nations continues to strengthen its offer to support Member States transition to a sustainable future and make the Goals a reality. 

And the Political Declaration adopted at the Summit called for an improved international debt mechanism, and urgent voluntary re-channeling of Special Drawing Rights. 

It declared support for reform of the international financial architecture. 

And it welcomed the Secretary-General’s call for an SDG Stimulus of $500billion a year to address the SDG financing gap. 

Together, we must turn these commitments into reality.  We must invest in development.

To achieve this, the Secretary-General has called for a Leaders Group to deliver a set of clear steps that can get the SDG Stimulus flowing by the end of 2024. 

And he has urged this month’s annual meetings of the Multilateral Development Banks to see recapitalization and urgent additional re-channeling of $100 billion in un-used Special Drawing Rights. I will be there to pass these messages later this week.

I ask you all to support these efforts.  

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The second path I see towards future peace and prosperity is reinvigorating multilateralism. 

For almost eighty years, the multilateral system, anchored in the United Nations Charter, has been a beacon of hope in addressing global challenges. 

It has saved lives and relieved suffering. It has played a pivotal role in averting a third world war, advancing socio-economic progress, supporting decolonization, and brokering and keeping peace.

​And Nordic countries have often been central to those efforts.   

It is incumbent upon all of us to preserve this vital institution for generations to come.  

To do that, we need to reform and revitalize it. And create a United Nations fit for the 21st century.

Our Common Agenda proposes a Summit of the Future, which will take place next year.
It will be a moment for Leaders to recommit to international cooperation and ensure that the multilateral system is fit to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

The outcome will be a Pact for the Future, which will set out commitments for a safer and more prosperous future.

Ahead of that Summit, the Secretary-General has presented Member States with a series of policy briefs for consideration.

One of these – A New Agenda for Peace – outlines a vision for how Member States can manage geopolitical competition and find pragmatic solutions to global problems to make our collective security system more effective.  

The Secretary-General sets out a comprehensive set of recommendations to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts. From eliminating nuclear weapons to developing frameworks to prevent the weaponization of new technologies.

It suggests maximizing the capacity and convening power of the UN to bridge geopolitical divides. And strengthening prevention at the national level by linking action for peace with progress on the SDGs. 

The New Agenda for Peace also suggests action to make peacekeeping more nimble and more adaptable. It presents ideas for how to ensure regional organizations such as the African Union have the financial resources they need to conduct effective peace operations. 

And it offers a vision for the reform of global governance in peace and security. That includes reform of the UN Security Council so that it is in line with today’s world, revitalizing the General Assembly, and strengthening the Peacebuilding Commission.

The Summit is less than twelve months away.  And negotiations on the Pact for the Future will begin imminently. 

I urge all Member States to work together to aim for ambition and reach agreement on these critical issues. 

This will require compromise. And genuine leadership. Business as usual is not an option.

Nordic countries have a unique role.

You can act as a bridge between North and South and between East and West. And champion critical issues in the negotiations, including the promotion of human rights and the empowerment of women and girls.

Time and time again, you have proven that small states can have a big voice and make huge contributions to the world. It was thanks to the voice of small states, for example, that so much progress was achieved in the Law of the Sea in recent years.

It is also thanks to small states that we are making progress on the financing for development agenda. Iceland was a co-facilitator of this process at the United Nations. 

The multilateral system belongs to all countries. And we must collectively find a way to make it fit for the future.  

This year’s 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights offers a unique opportunity to reconnect around the common values that bind us together: the universality and indivisibility of human rights. 

The UN Charter made human rights a central purpose of the Organization because the founders understood that lasting peace depended on fulfillment of the full spectrum of rights – economic, social, cultural, civil and political. And that is why the Secretary-General has identified the Universal Declaration as the best prevention tool we have. 
 
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 
 
The challenges we face are grave. 

But we have the power to solve them. And to build a more peaceful, prosperous future for all humanity. 

At this critical moment, I urge you to embrace the spirit of cooperation, peace and solidarity that has animated the Nordic nations for so long. 

And throw yourself behind our collective efforts to build a world of prosperity.

A world where no one is left behind. 

And a world where multilateralism thrives once more. 
 
Excellencies, that is a recipe for peace. 

Let us work together to imagine peace.

We can make it happen.
 
Thank you.