{"id":166482,"date":"2018-10-09T15:34:10","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T19:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/73\/?p=166482"},"modified":"2018-10-11T16:10:45","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T20:10:45","slug":"columbia-university-world-leaders-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/73\/2018\/10\/09\/columbia-university-world-leaders-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia University: World Leaders Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

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– As delivered –<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Statement by H.E. Mrs. Mar\u00eda Fernanda Espinosa Garc\u00e9s, President of the 73rd<\/sup> Session of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly<\/h3>\n

9 October 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Columbia University: World Leaders Forum<\/p><\/div>\n

Hello everyone!<\/p>\n

It is such a pleasure to be here this afternoon.<\/p>\n

Let me begin by thanking President Lee C. Bolinger for inviting me to speak at this forum. Thank you so much Maya Tolstoy, Interim Executive Vice President for Arts and Sciences, for your kind introduction.<\/p>\n

It feels good to be back in school!<\/p>\n

I studied at Rutgers, so I spent a lot of time in New York. And some of my fondest memories are from my time in this area.<\/p>\n

I would like to say everything has changed but I still get stuck with subway delays on the weekends, so I guess some things never change!<\/p>\n

That statement could apply to the United Nations, especially during what has come to be called gridlock week, the High-Level Week when world leaders come to the United Nations. So please let me get to the point and tell you about my plans for the United Nations this year.<\/p>\n

The theme I chose for the 73rd<\/sup> session is \u201cMaking the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies\u201d.\u00a0 Making the \u2018Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ relevant to all people\u2019 is such a broad statement, but as I would explain it is so necessary.<\/p>\n

I would therefore\u00a0 like to share four ideas with you today. First, the need for a strong multilateralism to address global challenges. Second, I will address the role of the United\u00a0 Nations as the most important multilateral institution. Third I will briefly touch on\u00a0 the need to revitalize the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and bring it closer to the people and I will end with the\u00a0 priorities I have identified for this year\u2019s work of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly.<\/p>\n

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  1. WHY DO WE NEED A STRONG MULTILATERAL SYSTEM? <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We live in a world experiencing transformations in all facets of human life: including, the impact of automation, digitization and financial derivatives on the real economy.\u00a0 As a result, many people around the world feel left out, exposed to an environment of general anxiety, a world of paradox.<\/p>\n

    Neither the United Nations nor traditional political establishments has been successful in\u00a0 addressing that sense of insecurity and anxiety many feel about today\u2019s conditions.<\/p>\n

    In many parts of the world, this vacuum is being exploited by individuals and groups who attribute all the problems of the world to multilateral institutions and arrangements. They promise easy solutions that stand no chance of addressing the real challenges the world face. We are witnessing a rise of unilateralism, nationalism, individualism.<\/p>\n

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    Every analysis, based on sound evidence, shows that in the even more interdependent world of today, we need more, not less cooperation, to solve the global problems that affect all of us on this planet. Thus, my call for global leadership and shared responsibilities.<\/p>\n

    In a period of dislocation and fear, it is difficult for reasoned analyses to break through the surrounding noise. It is probably easier to make the case in a setting such as this. But that is not enough to create the environment for universal understanding and support for multilateralism. How do we convince ordinary people who have been displaced from their manufacturing jobs, the youth who are perpetually unemployed or underemployed not to throw in their lot with those who seduce them with easy answers?<\/p>\n

    How do we convince them that multilateralism\u00a0 and multilateral arrangements, including trade rules, are not the source of the profound dizzying changes we are experiencing?<\/p>\n

    As President of the General Assembly, I have an obligation to point out that multilateralism is neither a threat to sovereignty nor to the pursuit of national interests. In fact, it provides the opportunity for every<\/em> sovereign state to tackle issues which any single<\/em> state alone cannot. But I can only make a difference if I am able to mobilize a coalition of people who are willing to stand up for their best interests; people who avoid the sweet inducements and face the truth. And the truth is our world is in trouble.<\/p>\n

    Take, climate change. This is a problem that is affecting every country, every community, every person on this planet. The frightening report of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that we have 12 years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.<\/p>\n

    How can anyone argue that implementing the Paris Agreement on Climate is not in the overall interest<\/em> of every country and<\/em> our planet? And not do everything possible about it.<\/p>\n

    Climate change proves a very strong point: some problems are simply too large, or too complicated, or involve too many stakeholders for any one country or community to go-it-alone. It is also clear that there is an uneven distribution of the burden of\u00a0 the climate bill. For example, the countries with greater emissions that use more of the atmospheric space have a responsibility to support the most vulnerable communities of the small island developing states, who suffer the greatest impact.<\/p>\n

    We see this also in the divisive issue of migration; we see this in nuclear proliferation; we see this in health and the spread of disease, such as the 1.5 million that die every year of Tuberculosis, a preventable and treatable disease.\u00a0 I could go on and on.<\/p>\n

    Yet, multilateralism offers us a chance to pool our know-how, to share costs and burdens, to do big things that we otherwise could not do alone.<\/p>\n

    We have seen the successes of such collaboration:<\/p>\n

    The Montreal Protocol helped halt the expansion of the hole in the ozone over Antarctica;<\/p>\n

    And the devastating West Africa Ebola outbreak was halted by a world coming together under the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

    The effort to undermine or destroy multilateral arrangements, and to attack multilateralism that have served us so well since the Second World War, should be resisted. Shared problems require shared approaches.<\/p>\n

    I submit therefore that multilateralism is not only the main way to solve<\/strong> our shared global problems; it is the only way to do it. That is why my presidency is devoted to complete and unwavering support for multilateralism.<\/p>\n

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    I submit therefore that multilateralism is not only the main way to solve our shared global problems; it is the only way to do it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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    2. MY SECOND IDEA IS WHY THE Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITED NATIONS IS SO RELEVANT<\/strong><\/p>\n

    My friends, my role, in many respects, is to serve as a guardian of multilateralism<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    As President of the General Assembly \u2013 the primary, most representative and democratic organ of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ \u2013 I have the responsibility of representing, convening, and speaking with the voice of each and every country.<\/p>\n

    In the General Assembly\u00a0 Hall, where countries have met for over seven decades, multilateralism is on full display. It is there that countries can share their views, offer their opinions, their criticisms, their fears and hopes.<\/p>\n

    And unlike other forums, the General Assembly is equal in every respect.<\/p>\n

    No country, regardless of square mileage or population or GDP or military size is granted anything different than their peers.<\/p>\n

    One country. One seat. One mic. One vote. This is as it should be. It reflects in many respects multilateralism-in-action<\/strong>. It is the closest thing we have to a \u2018Parliament of Humanity\u2019. The place where every year 196 voices are heard, more than 130 heads of state and government freely express their views, make their commitments, shape the international agenda.\u00a0 The General Assembly is the space where international law and policy is crafted.<\/p>\n

    We need that to consistently and passionately strengthen multilateralism and the principles of international cooperation, solidarity, and\u00a0 collective action.<\/p>\n

    One of the key challenges facing the United Nations is the ability to communicate the indispensable value of what it does. And to proclaim our successes to the world. Not to boast, but to provide evidence of success.<\/p>\n

    And that of course, brings me to my third and most important point.<\/p>\n

    3. HOW DO WE MAKE THE Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵITED NATIONS MORE EFFICIENT AND MORE RELEVANT TO ALL PEOPLE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    How do we change a decades old institution? We need to DARE, which stands for delivery, accountability, relevance and efficiency. This is the acronym that guides our work. We need to revitalize our working culture, to be more proactive, more efficient.<\/p>\n

    How do we shake off the perceptions of stuffy protocol and gridlock?<\/p>\n

    How do we strengthen the General Assembly so that it stands out as a forum for action?<\/p>\n

    Friends, I am concerned that we have not yet made the case for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ in a way that inspires public understanding and support.<\/p>\n

    How can we expect the world to support multilateralism and to fund the very institution that carries its weight, if they don\u2019t know what we do, let alone believe in it?<\/p>\n

    How many people, do you think, are aware of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? How many can list them?<\/p>\n

    Do you think they know that the commitments that their representatives agree to – from nuclear weapons, to outer space; from climate change to sustainable development – is directly related to their day to day lives and livelihoods? Their healthcare? Their education and housing? Their quality of life?<\/p>\n

    My presidency will strive to bring the United Nations closer to the people, through effective, dynamic and meaningful communication, and more importantly, with a greater response capacity, a greater efficiency.<\/p>\n

    We will do this through the media, we will do this through events such as this. Most importantly, we will do this by delivering on a set of priorities that reflect the needs of people. For example we will work with and for for the 1.5\u00a0 billion persons living with disabilities or the 68.5 million refugees around the world.<\/p>\n

    When selecting the 7 priorities for the 73rd<\/sup> session, I took two elements into account: what are the\u00a0 concerns and challenges, the most pressing issues of\u00a0 our world today and also of course the mandates that members states have entrusted the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly this year.<\/p>\n

    If you look at the priorities, some of them are issues that we all face: protecting the environment, tackling the challenge of migration, and ensuring decent work for all.<\/p>\n

    Others are specifically focused on empowering groups, such as women, youth, and persons living with disabilities \u2026 people who are too often marginalized and whose voices are left unheard.<\/p>\n

    My friends, these priorities are based on the struggles of real people. Their voices will be heard in the General Assembly so long as I am there.<\/p>\n

    What does this mean in concrete terms?<\/p>\n