The Pact for the Future: the United Nations, from negotiation to action?

“We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio GuterresExternal link hammered home as he opened the Summit for the Future on September 22 just before the UN General Assembly adopted a Pact for the Future, with an annexed Global Digital Pact and Declaration on Future Generations.

Also in New York the following week, we heard state leaders one after the other at the General Assembly podium, and saw them rushing around the corridors with their bodyguards and delegations for bilateral meetings and events. Would the Summit and adopted texts deliver on the UN Secretary General’s plea, in a world “heading off the rails” for “tough decisions to get back on track”?

In a situation plagued by conflicts and global risks on the planet and in the outer space, one could feed in skepticism about the UN and multilateralism. However, it is worth risking the argument: negotiating these documents was important, and much depends on what is done next to turn them into concrete actions.

Eleventh-hour negotiations

For the negotiator used to eleventh hour uncertainty in multilateral negotiations, it is an achievement that these arduous intergovernmental negotiations yielded result: three separate negotiations on each document with all States in several rounds behind closed doors, from one draft to the next, not to mention the consultations with civil society and other stakeholders. For weeks, we saw attempts to seal an agreement by “silence procedure” with silence broken yet again just a few days before the Summit: it is enough for one of the 193 States to object and there is no consensus.

Close to the finish line, high levels intervened to break the deadlock, while the Secretary-General faced the worst scenario: a Summit without results; a multilateral system where States could no longer even agree on a text. Until the last minute, anticipating that the Russian Federation would present an amendment from the floor, the Secretary-General was prepared for different speeches depending on whether the pact was adopted or not.

At the opening, the tension in the room is palpable. Reacting to the Russian Federation amendment, the African Group tabled a “no-action motion” visibly in support of General Assembly’s President Yang (Cameroon). Seconded by Mexico, the “no-action motion” was adopted with 143 “yes”, 15 “no”, and seven “abstentions”. Immediately after, the Pact was adopted, technically, “by consensus”.

From negotiation to action

Did the Pact’s adoption just save the United Nations from its death knell? It remains to be seen whether the Summit allows the UN to “make a new beginning for multilateralism”, as States pledged in the Pact. Guterres sharply stated: “It’s not just a matter of agreeing – it’s also a matter of acting. Today, I challenge you to take action”. 

Does the negotiated text demand sufficient commitment and ambitious enough to translate into concrete action? Some are prompt to answer in the negative: legally, the Pact is not more binding than any General Assembly resolution; its content does not meet the urgency and scale of the global challenges.

True, but the presence of a very large number of Heads of State and Governments can be seen as a collective political commitment. Referring to the ups and downs leading up to adoption, Swiss President Viola Amherd statedExternal link: “Perhaps because of these difficulties, the Pact is proving to be an important and clear signal of commitment to the multilateral system”.

Some, like President da Silva of BrazilExternal link, recalled past reforms carried out under Secretary-General Kofi Annan, such as the establishment of a Human Rights Council in Geneva, while other ideas failed to materialise. “The Pact for the Future shows us the direction to follow” in the face of new risks and opportunities, said da Silva, warning: “it will require an enormous negotiation effort (…) We cannot wait for another global tragedy, like the Second World War, to build a new global governance on its ruins.”

As for content, the Pact’s provisions can only be ambitious if implemented. As per the Modalities for the Summit of the FutureExternal link, the Secretary-General had issued Policy BriefsExternal link detailing the proposals made in his report Our Common AgendaExternal link. Depending on the issues, the Pact is more or less ambitious in its 56 “actions” under five headings : sustainable development and financing for development; international peace and security; science, technology, innovation and digital cooperation; young people and future generations; transforming global governance.

Clearly, the Pact does not reform the Security Council, described by Guterres as “outdated”; the Council’s meetings a few meters away failing to act on the deteriorating situation in the Middle East do not belie this. But while the Zero draftExternal link only had a placeholder on this, the adopted text refers to the negotiations underway on the “scope and use” of the veto, and the necessary enlargement. Significantly, all States agreed to “redress the historical injustice against Africa as a priority” and to improve the representation of other regions: Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Nor does the Pact reform the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. But it does commit States as they underscored the “need to enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in global economic decision-making, norm-setting and global economic governance”. Pressure is mounting, with notably the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) developing alternative financial institutions. Efforts are due to be pursued in the run up to the International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain, and the World Summit on Social Development in Qatar, both in 2025.

These are long overdue reforms since the now 193-member UN was founded by only 51 members, with the rest of the world under colonial rule. Paving the way for another long overdue change, the Pact points to “the regrettable fact that there has never been a woman Secretary-General”. And Guterres challenged States: “gender inequality is on full display in this very Hall. Less than 10 per cent of speakers during this week’s General Debate are women.”

In the field of technology, States committed, among others, to “enhance international governance of artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity”, and called on the private sector to apply the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human RightsExternal link. Specific measures are outlined in the Global Digital Compact, and initiatives have already been launched by Guterres and his remarkable Technology Envoy Amandeep Gill. Just before the Summit, the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Body on Artificial IntelligenceExternal link released its final report.

And what about the youth and future generations?

At the Action DaysExternal link just before the Summit, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed praised the architect of the Summit, Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder, for securing segments dedicated to youth participation. It spoke probably more to the issue than the Declaration’s rather vague language where States “take note of the Secretary-General’s proposal to appoint a Special Envoy for Future Generations”. In the #YouthLeadTheFuture session, the packed General Assembly was buzzing with calls on “Youth?” from Nigeria’s DJ CuppyExternal link, and the response: “Action!” chanted from seats usually reserved for diplomatic speeches.

In the United Nations headquarters used to State-driven processes, a nod to the promise of the Charter’s preamble: “We, the peoples” ? In the line up of speakers, we could meet people as diverse as Afghan footballer Khalida Bopal and Microsoft President Brad Smith. From the busy UN and a Manhatan jammed with high-level police escorts, we headed to Harlem for a reality check: none of the African Americans randomly approached seemed to have heard of the Summit and the Pact; one of them, Lyndell, asked: “is it a Pact for the Heads of States or for the people?”

It is now up to each and every one of us, for the Coalition for the UN We NeedExternal link, the MadamSecretaryGeneralExternal link campaign, business and others to ensure that the negotiated Pact leads to the “tough decisions to get back on track”.  From the podium, President MacronExternal link invited those saying that “basically, the United Nations should be scrapped; it’s no longer useful; (…) we can’t resolve conflicts” to be “constructively impatient”. It is indeed urgent to take the actions called for to serve billions of human beings – and not just billionaires – in the face of existential threats for humanity and future generations.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of SWI swissinfo.ch.