“Lifetime opportunity to build a better UN”, says former UNGA President on ‘Summit of Future’ to be attended by PM Modi

During his vist to the United States one of the key events to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the ‘Summit of the Future,’ scheduled for September 23 at the United Nations.

The Summit is a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future. The summit serves as a moment to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively achieve agreed goals and tackle emerging threats and opportunities

Speaking to ANI, President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA), Maria Fernanda Espinosa, says the Summit is a call and action to reform the Security Council and there is general agreement that the UN body is charged with ensuring international peace and security should reflect the world of today.

“I think the Summit of the Future is the outcome of a long process and the collective political will of seeing the UN strengthen its power, its delivery capacity, and adapt itself to the challenges of the 21st century – and I think that some say it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to agree, discuss, and commit to build a better UN. I think that the UN has done a lot of good to the world, prevented many conflicts, provided a life-saving support to refugees, to victims of war – an endless list of all the good things the UN has done, but I think that we are living a different reality than eight years ago, practically, in that – the time has come – for a UN refurbishing, retooling, rejuvenating – in the opportunities now,” Maria Fernanda Espinosa said.

“We are confident that we will have a strong pact of the future that will put women and gender equality at the centre, and that looks at the UN as a very complex ecosystem that is human-made, and therefore the improvements and the reforms also need to be led by humans – by societies; not only by governments, but also societies as a whole – and that’s why the voices of young people, of social movements, of academic scientists has been so active and strong. And we have to say that member states have also provided a central space to the negotiations and discussions of the pact, of the global digital compact, and the Declaration of Future Generations, which is a single package, and we are very much looking forward to seeing the Summit of the Future commit, not only to the pact, but to the implementation of the actions that are embedded in the pact,” she added.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will address the Summit of the Future. The theme of the Summit is ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called the Summit a “once in a generation UN Summit.”

“I’m told that 130 Heads of State and Government have confirmed their presence at the summit. I think that this reflects the political importance of the summit, the engagement and commitment of leaders of the world to really looking, reimagining a ‘UN 2.0’, and committing to the reforms that are needed. It’s not only the Security Council, it’s the present security architecture, the new agenda for peace, it’s the revitalisation of the epicentre of the system – the General Assembly – thinking about the space and the role of the environmental agenda and climate change, which was absent from the original UN charter. It is looking at how to improve the international financial architecture to respond to the needs of developing nations today,” Maria Fernanda Espinosa told ANI.

The pact for the summit includes a call to action to reform the Security Council, something that India has strongly piched for

“Reform of the Security Council has been a process that in ongoing for more than twenty years. Now, the pact of the future includes a call and action to reform the Security Council, and I think there is general agreement that the Security Council should reflect the world of today, it should reflect the current age of political landscape, and should include the voices of different regions and countries that were absent in the first design,” Maria Fernanda Espinosa said.

Cllimate change will also be a key focus at the Summit. The former UN President also appreciated India promise to cut emissions to net zero by 2070.

“It’s extremely important that countries of the size of India bring forward these very, very strong commitments. We are not doing well on the climate front; commitments of 1.8 billion people living in India, I think, is really going to make a difference. We have seen the commitment to renewable energy in India, and the commitment to reduce emissions. We hope to see the same among other big powers (too). It’s extremely important that emissions stop increasing, and we can meet the Paris Agreement commitments of net zero by 2050 and reducing by half the emissions by 2030, is it?” she said.

The former UN President also singled out India for special praise for the Women’s reservation that reserves two thirds of the seats for women in the Lower House of Parliament.

“I am a strong believer in quotas because, of course, we should not have quotas forever, but we need quotas to close the inequality gaps in all spaces – in parliaments, in governments, in the international system. That’s why we’re advocating for more women as Presidents of the General Assembly. (In) almost 80 years, I’m only the fourth woman – in almost 80 years of history of the General Assembly – the first ever female President of the General Assembly was an incredible Indian woman, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, as you know, and then two other incredible women – Madam Brookes from Liberia, Sheikh Haya from Bahrain, and I’m very proud to say I’m the first woman from Latin America to have this responsibility,” Maria Fernanda Espinosa said.

Summit of the Furture is an important milestone in the history of UN as it enters the 80th year of its establishment in 2025. A Pact for the Future , with its two annexes Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations, will be the outcome document of the Summi.