Liberia: UN Gears Up For New Summit

By Perry B. Zordyu

Liberia-Ahead of the Summit of the Future, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on world leaders to re-energize the potential for global cooperation.

The Final Summit of the Future is expected to take place in New York on September 22-23, 2024.  During the summit, Heads of State will agree on reforms to the building blocks of global cooperation due to the stark fact; that global problems are moving faster than the institutions designed to solve them.

The UN Secretary-General noted that ferocious conflicts and violence are inflicting terrible suffering; geopolitical divisions are rife; inequality and injustice are everywhere, corroding trust,

compounding grievances, and feeding populism and extremism. 

António Guterres stressed that the age-old challenges of poverty, hunger, discrimination, misogamy, and racism are taking on new forms and as such the world faces new and existential threats, from runaway climate chaos and environmental degradation to technologies like artificial intelligence developing in an ethical and legal vacuum.

He said the Summit of the Future recognizes that the solutions to all these challenges are

in the hands of global leaders but need a systems update that only global leaders can deliver. 

Guterres said global financial architecture is heavily weighted against developing countries and fails to provide a safety net when they face difficulties, leaving them drowning in debt, which drains money away from investments in their people.

He argued that global institutions offer limited space for many of the major players in today’s world – from civil society to the private sector adding that young people who will inherit the future are almost invisible, while the interests of future generations go unrepresented.

“The message is clear: we cannot create a future fit for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents. The Summit of the Future will be an opportunity to re-boot multilateral

collaboration fit for the 21st century,” he added. 

António Guterres further asserted that the solutions proposed include a new agenda for peace focused on updating international institutions and tools to prevent and end conflicts, including the UN Security Council. 

“The New Agenda for Peace calls for a renewed push to rid our world of nuclear arms and other Weapons of Mass Destruction; and for broadening the definition of security to encompass gender-based violence and gang violence. It takes future security threats into account, recognizing the changing nature of warfare and the risks of weaponizing new technologies.” António Guterres stated.

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General wants a global agreement to outlaw so-called Lethal Autonomous Weapons that can make life-or-death decisions without human input.

According to him, global financial institutions must reflect today’s world and be equipped to lead a more powerful response to today’s challenges – debt, sustainable development, climate action.

The UN expert is therefore called for a hence concrete steps to tackle debt distress, increase the lending capacity of multilateral developments, and change the business model so that developing countries have far more access to private finance at affordable rates something he believes without that finance, developing countries will not be able to tackle greatest future threat such as climate crisis.

The Summit of the Future will also focus on new technologies with a global impact, seeking ways to close the digital divide and establish shared principles for an open, free, and secure digital future for all.

At the same time, the United Nations Secretary-General is demanding renewed efforts to remove the historic barriers – legal, social, and economic – that exclude women from power.

He believes that global decision-making cannot be reformed without respect for all human rights and cultural diversity, ensuring the full participation and leadership of women and girls.

The Summit of the Future is a chance to build more effective and inclusive institutions and tools for global cooperation.