15th International Agenda-setting Conference

Dear Friends:

Maybe a bit unusual for a dinner speech, but I want to start by talking about…soccer! I am not an avid soccer fan. Although I do have roots in a country where the only European Championship victory in 1992 is still celebrated as a seminal moment in the country’s most recent history. But I do watch the big tournaments. So I also tuned into watch the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in June of last year. Maybe because I am not in the stands every Sunday, I was struck - and rather shocked - at the level of violence on the field and the blatant breaking of the rules that was accepted by the referees. Not just the most famous bite perpetrated by Mr. Suárez. More broadly, the very concept of fair play seemed to have left the pitch entirely.

As I was watching, it also struck me that this open disrespect for established rules and the lack of consequences for it is not unique to the world of soccer. There are parallels to how we are conducting ourselves around the world. I see it as symptomatic of a much deeper problem of a lack of respect for the rules that we have agreed on together, of impunity and injustice in our collective systems.

As a backdrop to this emerging trend, let me, however, remind you of the following: when we look at key social and economic parameters, the human race has never had it so good. We are healthier, live longer, are better educated and are more connected than ever before in human history. Since 1990, the world has reduced extreme poverty by half. In the same period, 2.3 billion people gained access to safe drinking water, and over a quarter of the world’s population gained access to improved sanitation while child mortality dropped by 50%. The number of children out of school has been halved since the year 2000. The mortality rate of cancer fell by 20% between 1991 and 2010. In 1990, one million people owned a mobile phone, and today there are close to 7 billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world - one for each person on the planet.
It is clear, of course, that there is still much work to be done. These figures mask significant differences across regions and even within individual countries. But the reality is that when compared with all other periods in history, the rate, level and reach of our progress is remarkable. With the technical capacity and know-how that we possess, we are the first generation to have the potential to eradicate poverty. This is truly astounding. These facts serve to underline very clearly what we stand to lose if we don’t get our overall act together.

Alongside these positive trends on socio-economic indicators, we experience increasing levels of instability and insecurity. As just one illustration: the number of newly displaced persons has tripled since 2010. Conflicts such as those in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Syria and South Sudan have created the greatest humanitarian needs in recent history. These crises and many other humanitarian emergencies are the result of our inability to effectively confront underlying societal instability and create inclusive communities with empowered citizens and an equitable distribution of wealth and resources.

This has resulted in, and is compounded by, a global trust deficit - lack of trust in authorities, lack of trust in the systems we have put in place, a lack of trust in a better future ahead. A rapidly-growing number of people feel excluded or disconnected from the societies within which they live. Despite socio-economic progress, there is a pervasive sense of injustice, alienation and disempowerment for many - a deep feeling of a lack of fair play for all in the face of great asymmetries in the options available to each individual.

This effectively amounts to a break-down of the social contract between the State and its citizens but also across communities who view each other with increasing suspicion and unease. We find at least part of the explanation for the very worrying growth in support for violent extremist agendas in these negative dynamics.

I believe that the strong sense of injustice and the resulting trust deficit we see around us carry great risks of undermining, and even reversing, the gains we have made so far. These trends present a future scenario that is full of uncertainties and for which we are not well prepared.
This is where we need to focus in setting a new agenda. A purely security-driven response to the grievances of those who feel excluded and to violent extremism will only deal with the symptoms, important though that is.

We need to get much more serious about addressing the underlying drivers of conflict and the rupture of the social contract. We need to instil a new sense of trust in institutions and leaders, in the fact that we are in this world together and have a shared future, if we are to have any hope of confronting these trends. This will need to include the provision of alternative solutions to disaffected communities and greater investment in development to address the root causes of these social upheavals.

Our governance structures need to be able to better support and enhance respect for the rules of the game. Currently, our global governance framework – and I include the United Nations in this analysis – reflect a bygone, State-centric era. Institutional structures and processes do not take into account the changing expectations of individuals, the need for inclusive decision-making and technological advances. States are resisting change. This is to be expected. Entrenched power structures and institutional inertia often mitigate any attempt at profound changes. But reality will impose itself and a much more profound re-think and re-structuring will be necessary. And while we wait for the political stars to align themselves for this to be possible, we need to make better use of the systems we have while also continuing to prepare for new ways of doing business.

First, in international decision-making, we need to involve civil society to a larger extent. And we need to interpret that in its widest sense - NGOs, parliamentarians, research and academic institutions, science and the private sector. More inclusive decision-making gives greater legitimacy to decisions, provides a sense of ownership and mitigates feelings of alienation. And for States to maintain their legitimacy through delivery to their citizens, they will need to engage them in a new and deeper way in decision-making.

Second, we need to have a better connection across levels - from the city level where an increasing amount of decisions will be made, to the national and then to the global level. At the moment, too few understand the impact of global decisions on their daily lives. And if they do - they do not feel that they can influence these decisions. The chain from local advocacy, through national parliaments, to governments and the global decision-making arena needs to be strengthened and be made more transparent.

Third, we need to work towards socially-inclusive economic growth that provides jobs and ensures a better wealth distribution. Inequalities are a key driver of social instability, and also slows growth overall.

Fourth, we must emphasize education systems, not just in terms of enrolment rates but quality in content in education that supports global citizenship, empowerment and provides a sense of inclusion. The preamble to UNESCO’s Constitution – despite its outdated gender references – is still powerful and relevant: since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. This is certainly true also today.

We often to focus on schooling and education from a more technical point of view: ensuring that children have the right tools to enter and navigate the world of work. But shared values and principles, and human rights, must be embedded in our curricula, to foster tolerance and respect in addition to literacy and numeracy. In a world of seven billion potential voices in the global public debate through social media and other platforms, it is an important responsibility to ensure that they can contribute in a constructive way and have the right tools to filter and process the information they receive.

This needs to be supported by local and international media that focus on solutions and how to move the world forward instead of an exclusive emphasis on breaking news. A role of education and information that has – in my view – been largely abdicated by some segments of the media and which very much needs to be refound and strengthened. This is where the constructive news approach that Mr. Haagerup of Danish Television has been promoting so effectively has real value.

Action on all of these axes will help towards addressing the root causes of the trust deficit, which is an overarching challenge and one of the most difficult to overcome. Like respect, trust is very hard to regain once it has been lost.

We cannot expect individuals to respect the rules of the game if they experience that the powerful and those in positions of authority can flout the very same rules without any consequences and when they have no opportunity to be part of the decisions that affect them.

Changing our global agenda is a tall order, no doubt, but I think it is a very necessary one. It has to be a new agenda that emphasizes the individual responsibility that each one of us has in making this happen. We are in this world together, and each one of us has an obligation, in whatever position we are in, to move this agenda forward.

The basic respect for the rules of the game will only come when each one of us sees ourselves as guardians of the frameworks that are put in place. Just as one individual player on the pitch cannot ensure respect for the rules, it requires a collective determination to uphold them at global level. We cannot simply wring our hands – or hang our heads, for that matter – and hope that somebody will take on this task. Yes, we need good leadership, but good leadership does not magically appear and cannot be sustained without support.

Agendas are not set by others; they are set by all of us together. I think we may be beginning to experience a growing realization, among thinkers and some policy-makers, that change is necessary. It is still nebulous and it is not a coherent and concrete movement. But I am encouraged by some conversations I hear – some of them particularly involving the private sector – to the effect that business-as-usual simply no longer will do. We are not quite there yet, but we are moving in the right direction – even if it is at a very early stage.

2015 is a key year – not just for the United Nations as we celebrate our 70th anniversary – but for the entire international community as key central policy frameworks are being set, on development and its financing, on climate change and on disaster risk reduction. The linkages across these issues are becoming very obvious as Member States work through the different texts. At the same time, the events of the past 12 months – in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in the Sahel and in other places – are demonstrating that our efforts to prevent crises and ensure long-term stability have fallen desperately short.

The good news is that there is actually a lot of creative thinking out there on which we can capitalize. But we need to get better at connecting the dots of this thinking, to bring the deep reflection that takes place to the policy realm. I hope we all take the opportunity that is given to us to shape the right agenda for the international community.

Thank you very much.