Director-General's remarks at the Exchange with students of the University of St. Gallen - Seminar on "Rebuilding Security in Europe"

"Rebuilding Security in Europe" - Exchange with students of the University of St. Gallen

Tuesday, 29 October 2024, at 10.00 a.m.

Visitors' Center, E Building, Palais des Nations

Ambassador Greminger,

Dear students, 

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to the Palais des Nations, at the heart of International Geneva. I wish to warmly thank the Geneva Centre for Security Policy for bringing you here today and for facilitating this exchange.

St. Gallen is well known for its annual student-led Symposium held at the city’s main university. This gathering, which recently celebrated 52 years, has been providing a unique platform for cross-generational dialogue and collaboration. The United Nations Office at Geneva is pleased to strengthen cooperation with the University of St Gallen, including through joint activities by the Beyond Lab (former SDG Lab) in my Office on long-term sustainability and intergenerational impact. 

Today, I would like to share with you some thoughts about multilateralism and international cooperation, in the context of the work of the UN Office at Geneva, and then reflect on some broader trends in the global governance system amid the multiple challenges we are facing now. 

International Geneva and the United Nations Office at Geneva

International Geneva is a key diplomatic centre and the main operational hub of the UN system, with about 11,000 international and national staff members working in the UN Secretariat and in over 40 UN funds, programmes, and specialized agencies. It also hosts numerous intergovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, and individuals at the forefront of technological innovation, trade, development and humanitarian assistance, health, peace-building and environmental protection.

International Geneva is traditionally strong on peace initiatives and is often regarded as a ‘city of choice’ for mediators and special envoys because it provides a neutral, discreet and secure space for dialogue. Many peace talks, conflict prevention and mediation efforts take place at the Palais des Nations. We host and facilitate several UN-led peace processes, including on Syria, Libya, Cyprus, Georgia, Yemen and Sudan. 

Housed at the Palais des Nations, UN Geneva serves as the representative office of the UN Secretary-General. Its core functions focus on the provision of services to support multilateral diplomacy. UN Geneva plays a leading role in fostering and enabling collaboration with and among Member States and supporting intergovernmental processes. Many high-level delegations gather at UN Geneva every year to participate in bilateral exchanges, meetings, and conferences. Among them are meetings of the Human Rights Council, the Conference on Disarmament, the annual session of the International Labour Conference and of the World Health Assembly.  In 2023, UNOG hosted and serviced 8,478 meetings, which makes us one of the busiest UN duty stations in the world in terms of conference management.

Together with our longstanding partners – GCSP and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, UNOG also contributes to fostering multistakeholder partnerships across Geneva-based organizations with the annual Geneva Peace Week, which brings together over 5,000 participants from around the world in person and online. The 11^th edition of GPW was organized earlier this month under the theme “What is Peace”.

Geneva is the birthplace of modern multilateralism. Back in 1919, the creation of the League of Nations embodied the ambitious vision of a new management of international relations after the devastating World War I. Its aim was nothing less than to safeguard universal peace.

Despite the failure that some consider it to have been, the League of Nations laid the foundations for what the United Nations Organization undertakes today. From disarmament to the protection of minorities and refugees, from international justice to intellectual cooperation and the regulation of labor, the legacy of the League of Nations has paved the way for the advent of contemporary multilateralism based on the rules of international law.

While it is often considered the center of the history of multilateralism, Geneva is also the center of its memory. The historical archives of the League of Nations, over 15 million pages listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, are kept here, at the Palais des Nations. In 2022, we completed a major project to digitize the entire original archives of the League of Nations which are now available for everyone, free of charge. They bear witness to the commitment of our predecessors to the cause of peace and international cooperation.

With representatives of 184 Member States and a myriad of other actors, Geneva has always had a multicultural identity. Culture is also an important diplomatic instrument to reduce barriers and promote mutual respect and understanding among nations. This is why cultural diplomacy is one of our priorities at the UN Office at Geneva and we support Member States in promoting cultural diversity through exhibitions, concerts and other cultural activities. 

Thanks to its multicultural diversity, Geneva became an incredible centre of knowledge and innovation in various fields, and an ideal location to reinforce and develop synergies on new and emerging topics on the global agenda.

Just one example: Geneva is the birthplace of the International Gender Champions, a leadership network that brings together female and male decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality. To date, the network comprises over 330 active champions and 340 Alumni in several multilateral hubs around the world, who actively advance gender equality within their organizations and through programmatic work.

Geneva is also an important venue for international disarmament diplomacy. It is home to the Conference on Disarmament, the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, which comprises 65 Member States. Here at the Palais des Nations, we also support a range of multilateral disarmament agreements and disarmament-related conferences, such as the Review Conferences of the Biological Weapons Convention, sessions of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and the Preparatory Committee of the Review Conferences of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  

At a time where global challenges appear at a fast-evolving pace and continue to be more interrelated than ever, such a networked system as the one formed in Geneva provides the best place to come together around a table, discuss, and find innovative and collaborative solutions.

Global governance trends

Now, let’s look at the broader picture and the global governance trends under which the UN works.

As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated, the current state of the planet is broken. We face the highest level of geopolitical tensions in decades, new and developing global threats, and more deadly and complex conflicts. Growing inequalities, exacerbated by the pandemic, economic shocks, distrust at all levels and climate-related emergencies are on the rise.

We desperately need a just and sustained peace in Ukraine, in line with the UN charter and international law, which establishes the obligation to respect the territorial integrity of sovereign states. We also urgently need de-escalation of the Middle East conflict and peace for the Palestinian people. And around the world, from the Sahel to Libya and Sudan, from the Great Lakes to the Horn of Africa, from Yemen to Myanmar, we need concerted efforts to strengthen regional organizations and for global powers to pressure the parties to war to come to the peace table and to pursue their goals through negotiations.

Today, the global community is more fragmented and divided than at any time since the end of the Second World War. The current multilateral architecture is eroding and there are several reasons for it.

First, low confidence in national institutions and global governance. This has led to a crisis of trust between people and the institutions that represent them. At the same time, there is a rise of strongman politics and short-sighted unilateral approaches. Global decision-making is fixed on immediate gain, ignoring the long-term consequences of decisions and action – or inaction. In this landscape, countries and individuals have become disillusioned with globalization and fail to see the enormous gains of multilateral cooperation. 

Second, the international community is no longer multi-polar but rather polycentric, with an increasing number of state and non-state actors, including big tech companies, think tanks and NGOs. 

Third, the UN itself is in urgent need of reform. For being fit for purpose, the UN must reflect contemporary geopolitical and economic realities, and not the balance of power in 1945. As the UN Secretary-General recently said: “We cannot build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents.” 

Fourth, we now live in an interconnected and fast-changing environment. The challenges we face are deeply intertwined and require a much more coordinated response at many levels. The COVID-19 pandemic, for one, was a tragic reminder of how deeply interdependent we are. We need to break down silos and improve how we work together across issues and sectors.

These, and other reasons, are different facets of one and only fundamental trend - the world is experiencing a great transformation, a transition to a new economic and social paradigm, to a new global order. Such transformations happen once in several centuries and in the past were always accompanied by some kind of turmoil or crisis. While failing to avoid it, we can still minimize the negative shocks on people and the planet.

The new paradigm means the world, which is far more interconnected, where national frontiers are no longer barriers to economic exchange, where decision-making is more decentralized, where the voices of all the nations are taken into account, where societies are more inclusive: a diverse world that shares common values firmly embodied in the UN Charter and a vision for our common future. We already have a roadmap to this new paradigm – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was endorsed by all the Member States in 2015. At the Summit of the Future in September 2024, the Member States reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs, by adopting a ground-breaking Pact for the Future. 

This was the culmination of an inclusive, years-long process to adapt international cooperation – including the United Nations – to the realities of today and the challenges of tomorrow. The Pact is the most wide-ranging international agreement in many years. It covers a number of issues, including peace and security, sustainable development, digital cooperation, youth and future generations, and the transformation of global governance. 

The Pact aims, above all, to ensure that international institutions can deliver in the face of a world that has changed dramatically since they were created. For example, the Pact includes the most progressive and concrete commitment to UN Security Council reform since the 1960s, with plans to improve the effectiveness and representativeness of the Council, including by redressing the historical under-representation of Africa as a priority. 

The Pact also includes: an agreement to strengthen international frameworks that govern outer space, including a clear commitment to prevent an arms race in outer space; steps to avoid the weaponization and misuse of new technologies, such as lethal autonomous weapons; a path to reform the international financial architecture so that it better represents and serves developing countries; and a commitment to more meaningful opportunities for young people to participate in the decisions that shape their lives, especially at the global level. 

There are also two annexes to the Pact: a Global Digital Compact, which is the first comprehensive global framework for digital cooperation and AI governance, and the first-ever Declaration on Future Generations, which contains concrete steps to take account of future generations in our decision-making.

Furthermore, the entire Pact is designed to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. On climate change specifically, it confirms the need to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and to transition away from fossil fuels in the energy system, to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

After the adoption of the Pact, the hardest part begins: implementation. But as the Secretary-General noted at the Security Council meeting on Ukraine in September 2024, “the Black Sea Initiative and the continued exchanges of prisoners of war serve as reminders that, when there is political will, diplomacy can succeed – even in the darkest hour.” 

Dear students,

Today the world stands at a crossroads, a fragile moment in time where the state of multilateral cooperation is changing and is being put to the test. Now, more than ever though, we have a shared interest in looking after our planet, for present and future generations. As UN Secretary-General Guterres said: "The choices we make, or fail to make today, could result in a breakdown or a breakthrough to a greener, better and safer future. The choice is ours to make". 

Despite the challenges, the United Nations remains the only truly global, truly legitimate table around which all stakeholders can come together to find solutions. We must accelerate our efforts towards the networked, inclusive and effective multilateralism that the UN Secretary-General has called for. The involvement of young people is key to make this transformation happen. With the greatest stake in our future, you have a central role to play. Young people have the passion to innovate and the power to raise awareness and have consistently demonstrated both the will and the skillset to bring about meaningful and necessary change. You can play a paramount role in rethinking and reshaping paradigms and be a positive force for the future. This was emphasized in the Pact for the Future, which I mentioned before. 

Here at the United Nations Office at Geneva, we fully support the involvement of young people in global affairs and provide a range of opportunities, programmes and events to engage and empower youth. These include the Young Activists Summit, the Graduate Study Programme, Young Reporters at the UN and other youth-focused events, such as students’ visits to the Palais des Nations, like this one.

Importantly, these initiatives are not only about helping young people to learn about multilateralism, but are about two-way exchanges, allowing us here at the UN Office at Geneva to hear your views and incorporate your perspectives into our work.

Thank you for your attention. I will be glad to answer some of your questions.