MONITORING (SW) – The United Nations has adopted a landmark “Pact for the Future” designed to address a wide range of 21st-century challenges, including climate change, conflict, and human rights.
The pact was passed on Sunday despite last-minute objections led by Russia, marking the start of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week.
As an opener for the annual high-level week of the UN General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday, dozens of heads of state and government gathered for the adoption, which faced last-minute opposition from Russia and its allies.
Leaders pledged to bolster the multilateral system to “keep pace with a changing world” and to “protect the needs and interests of current and future generations” facing “persistent crisis.” “We believe there is a path to a brighter future for all of humanity,” the document says.
The pact outlines 56 “actions,” including commitments to multilateralism, upholding the UN Charter and peacekeeping, reported wires.
It also calls for reforms to international financial institutions and the UN Security Council, along with renewed efforts to combat climate change, promote disarmament, and guide the development of artificial intelligence.
The adoption of the text faced a brief delay when Russia’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, Sergey Vershinin, introduced an amendment emphasizing the “principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states” and urging the UN to avoid duplicating efforts.
Russia’s objections were backed by allies Belarus, North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua and Syria, but its amendment was overwhelmingly dismissed in a motion to take no action.
Despite criticism of the pact, it is still “an opportunity to affirm our collective commitment to multilateralism, even in the difficult current geopolitical context,” one diplomat said, emphasizing the need to rebuild trust between the Global North and South.
