“UN Turning 70: Taking Stock and looking Ahead” Conference

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

It is a great pleasure to be here and to mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations in such a thought-provoking manner. Birthdays are best shared with family and friends and I am happy to be among many today who I consider both. Allow me to single out one of them who is with us today. Former Assistant Secretary-General Sotiris Mousouris, my old boss and close friend for the last 30 years. Anniversaries are also occasions to take stock and look ahead and I am very grateful to the University of Athens and especially to Professor Dipla for this timely opportunity to do so.

The speakers after me are going to touch in detail on some of the specific threats and problems the world is facing today, so, with your permission, I will concentrate on the broader picture of governance and the role of the UN in it. I am happy to have an interchange with you after my presentation on any topic and equally happy to answer questions in either English or Greek – within the limits of my abilities, of course.

Looking at the state of the world and comparing today’s multilateral governance system to the situation seventy years ago, we find both tremendous progress and disappointing set-backs. Despite the current difficult situations in many places in the world, and looking at the overall statistics, let us not forget that the human race, on average, has never had it so good as it does today. We live longer, we are healthier, and we are better educated than ever before. An extraordinary achievement by the International System over the past 7 decades !

At the same time, we constantly face challenges: each asylum seeker or migrant in the current displacement crisis, for example, represents a failure to overcome one of the challenges that the System was created to solve.

The refugee and migration crisis and its different causes highlight substantial structural problems of an increasingly fragmented multilateral governance system. Today, these problems have become more apparent. While working to shape long-term approaches towards a more sustainable future, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, that I will come back to later, and the current negotiations on climate change in Paris, governments and all the other actors involved, including the UN, have had to tackle an accelerating set of threats and obstacles that have required immediate attention and action.

To understand why we are in this situation, it is important to look at the trajectory of multilateral governance and the role of the United Nations which was created to be the central facilitator of this governance. Let me underline three key points and mention some examples of trends that are in the process of fundamentally changing the world we are facing , and the way they already influence how we run our planet.

First, the transformation of the governance of our world is much more profound than most of us realize. And it is happening much faster than the speed at which our international institutions have been able to adapt. Second, the United Nations, in its current form and with the current way of doing business, is not well structured to fully play its role in this new governance landscape. Our organization is currently running the risk of becoming increasingly ineffective unless the right conclusions are drawn and adjustments made accordingly. But third, and most importantly, the United Nations is the repository of the expertise, experience and human capital, across the system, which can and should be used much better in the new governance frameworks that are evolving.

Let me explain in more detail what these three points mean for each of us. There are a number of drivers of the radical transformation we are experiencing. The impact on, and power of, each one of us has evolved dramatically. Education and new communication technologies, with, for example, 7 billion mobile phones world-wide, have emboldened and empowered individuals like never before. Everyone has a voice today and popular participation in governance at all levels is now possible in entirely new ways.

At the same time, inequality in income and opportunities are on the rise worldwide. This fosters mistrust between sections of society and a lack of confidence in the institutions that are meant to govern for the benefit of all at local, national and international levels. Our systems and structures are not responding sufficiently to this reality. The mechanisms of accountability and justice are not keeping up. The general public feels that the ‘authorities’ no longer deliver and have lost their integrity. As a result, as in our immediate neighbourhood here in Europe for example, populist and protest movements are on the rise as individuals look for alternative ways of making their voice heard. The resulting divisive narrative of “us against them” dangerously undermines the fact that our common future in an interconnected world demands a shared responsibility.

Along with these changes in the relationship between individuals and institutions, the relationship between different institutions are also changing at local, regional and global levels. City administrations, for example, are playing an increasingly important role: by 2050, 75% of the world’s population will be living in cities. Increasingly, key decisions affecting citizens will be taken at city level. The functions and expectations of the State as we have known them are being recalibrated. It does not happen suddenly, but the process is already underway. At the regional level, we see a rise in the role and impact of regional organizations, fostering interaction between national institutions across regions. And in trade, for example, the number of Regional Trade Agreements in force has been increasing steadily, while global trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization are stalled.

At the global level, there are more examples of such bypassing of established institutions. Governance systems and structures, dating back to the post Second World War period, are outdated and no longer reflect current realities. New arrangements, such as the G7, G8, G20 or the R20 have been created to overcome specific deadlocks. But these organisations are also facing challenges and their legitimacy is questioned. We increasingly witness situations where the rule of law is not applied equally to small and big, to friends and rivals. National interests increasingly override the need for international solidarity and effective collective responses to armed conflicts, even though their consequences eventually impact all parts of our interconnected world.

With an increasing number of actors and sub-structures in the sphere of multilateral governance, the categories that we used to describe the world have been overtaken by events. Challenges can no longer be neatly separated and labelled as either “security” or “economic” for example. Security threats cut across borders, in the form of terrorism, criminal networks or flows of arms, challenging the traditional distinction between inter-State and intra-State conflicts.

Our increasing individual mobility changes identities, alliances and allegiances – and as a result, our priorities. The total number of international migrants has increased from an estimated 150 million in 2000 to 232 million persons by the last headcount in 2013 and is growing. The balance between, and perceptions of, “north” and “south” and “east” and “west” is being realigned as people move. And it is realigned as economies develop. As just one example, it is projected that by 2020 – just 5 years from now - the combined output of the three leading South economies – China, India and Brazil – may surpass the aggregate production of the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada.

In view of changes and transformation on such fundamental levels, people naturally look for guidance in rules and norms, as well as in their leadership. This brings me back to my second point on the role of the United Nations. Because the United Nations was created as the table around which such rules and regulations can and have been agreed upon, and where collective leadership can legitimately be exerted.

Yet, the realities at the time of the creation of the United Nations are not those of today. In a sense, the shape of the table no longer accommodates the actors that should be sitting around it. This refers first and foremost to the Security Council, tasked with addressing issues that threaten international peace and security. But it refers far beyond this body. The whole United Nations system has yet to become sufficiently flexible and inclusive.

But while acknowledging these, mostly political, shortcomings, let me remind you again that we must not ignore the effective operational work with which the United Nations continuously and positively impacts each and every individual around the world, in every 24-hour period. This work, which is largely unappreciated by the public, often forgotten by politicians and unreported by world media, goes from the practical to the more existential, for example from road signs we all saw on the way to the lecture hall today, to medical guidelines for checks to be carried out before an operation, to international dialling codes for the phones that we all use, to standards for the food that we eat, to capacity-building for developing countries to be able to trade more effectively, to the clearing of millions of landmines to help communities develop, to the millions of children that get vaccinated across the Globe, to the integration of human rights into all that we do, just to name but a very few examples. Every single one of you in this room is impacted by these activities every day of your lives!

The tragic situation in Syria is a good example of this. The Syrian people have been let down by the international community’s inability to unite behind a political solution. It is a failure and we cannot call it by any other name. But while the Security Council has been unable to come to a common understanding and take action, the United Nations family of organizations has provided over 1.1 million metric tons of food – that is the equivalent weight of 11 cruise ships – to Syrians since the beginning of the conflict. The United Nations agencies and programmes have enabled millions to get clean water, helped more than 2 million children go to school in 2014, vaccinated close to 3 million children against polio, and continues to assist the now more than 4 million refugees and millions more of internally displaced. In addition, the United Nations led the elimination of the declared chemical weapons programme of Syria.

These are impressive numbers, but they are also unsustainable numbers. The increasing complexity and scale of crises resulting from the inability to find political solutions pushes the capacity of the humanitarian and developmental responders to the limit. At the end of November, just below 50% of the global humanitarian appeal for 2015 was funded. And just two days ago we launched the humanitarian appeal for 2016 for just over 20 billion dollars. This comes at a time when many States are actually increasing their humanitarian funding, recognizing that if the United Nations did not provide support, nobody would! But needs are outstripping resources. The only way to get ahead of the curve is through a serious review of the relationship between developmental and humanitarian interventions or put more simply, through better and more effective prevention.

Prevention, in the form of better investment in institutions and programmes that reduce the risk of conflict and natural disasters is cheaper than the humanitarian aid required to respond to them. Despite this well-known truism, short-term thinking – often tied to political electoral cycles – still dominates. This must obviously change. Because as the severe economic crisis that Greece has gone through recently has shown, assistance can become an unexpected necessity much faster than anyone expected – in developing and developed countries alike.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The primary challenge for the United Nations then is to draw together the actors and issues of multilateral governance at a time of increasing fragmentation. It cannot do this as long as the United Nations system itself is fragmented and static. So what is needed to adjust the United Nations and multilateral governance at large to the major transformations we have witnessed over the past 70 years?

Since its creation 70 years ago, the UN has developed an impressive pool of expertise and tools to respond to different situations. With its unique convening power, the UN bridges fragmentation and differences and is able to bring together a wide variety of actors. And the frameworks that are being created this year provide us with an opportunity to capitalize on this convening power – as was so vividly proven last September when 193 Member States agreed to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda – The Road Map for all 7 Billion of us.

For those of you who don’t know what I am referring to, let me quickly summarise all 17 Sustainable Development Goals for you:

• 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
• 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
• 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

It is an incredibly ambitious program, but these goals are, by and large, feasible. Their predecessors, The Millenium Development Goals have over the past 15 years cut world poverty in half, cut child mortality in half and increased the number of children being educated by impressive numbers.

These new goals are a clear manifestation of the understanding that has evolved over the last several decades that there will be no peace without development, no development without peace and neither of these without human rights. That understanding is and will remain the bedrock of our collective action to improve all our lives.

The year 2015 will be remembered as reference year when major historical international agreements were adopted. This obviously includes the Sustainable Development Goals that I just mentioned, which provide a framework for cooperation that is unprecedented in their comprehensiveness. Earlier this year, the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction [in Sendai, Japan] and the International Conference on Financing for Development [in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia] took place. As we speak, negotiations in Paris on Climate are continuing, hopefully leading to a solid agreement in the coming days. Upcoming international conferences will hopefully further solidify this new set of rules: the UN General Assembly meeting on Drugs in April 2016 and the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. All of these frameworks are intimately interlinked, and our efforts will have to converge in their implementation. You cannot talk about development without talking about climate and you cannot talk about reducing the risk and consequences of disasters without referring to the first two, for example.

This is going to be a huge challenge, but the processes by which these agreements have been negotiated give reason for optimism. In the preparations of the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations brought together Member States, international and regional organisations, parliaments, civil society, academia, the private sector and many other actors in a truly inclusive process. And the Climate Conference in Paris has equally attracted actors from all these communities and interest groups.

At local, national and international governance levels, we have to work horizontally across issue, reflecting the interconnectedness of today’s challenges and transformation processes taking place around us. Cooperation across national Ministries and international organisations will be crucial. Most national systems are organized into individual ministries which do not coordinate enough between each other. The international system mirrors this approach, organized vertically, and this needs to change into a more integrated, collaborative and inclusive approach. This includes further strengthening the links between international organizations and parliaments, who are essential for the implementation of any agreement made at the global level. Add to this the increasing importance of mayors and of regional organizations to which I have alluded earlier and it becomes clear that the United Nations must become more than an organization by States for States if it wants to remain relevant. The current, but ageing Westphalian model of governance will have to be complemented by the inclusion of non-State actors, including NGOs, the private sector and academia, who will need to be at the decision making table.

In short, we need new ways of working through inclusive partnerships, horizontal and cross cutting cooperation. The 2030 Agenda is a great opportunity to adjust our systems and structures to the new way of doing business. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals do not only address the many challenges I have listed, they touch upon all aspects of our daily lives. Their successful implementation will make the world a better place for all of us.

To conclude, 70 years ago, the United Nations was established as the organization dealing with all problems beyond national borders. In 2015, it is one actor among many who work across national boundaries and across issues. In this fragmented playing field, the principle of shared responsibilities must be put at the centre. The United Nations can be the lead-organization which facilitates interaction to identify responsibilities and actors that can take them on. In many areas the United Nations itself will continue to provide the services no other actor can or wants to deliver. But to increase effectiveness, we need institutional reform or restructuring - of the Security Council and of the Organization as a whole - to make our decision-making more representative, more legitimate and more credible. Pending the emergence of the elusive political will to do so, we will need to find ways around the problem to get to where we need and want to be. And this will only be possible if we truly are able to operationalize the concept of “Shared Responsibility”.

Responding to the significant transformation that is unfolding, and in order to help structure the fragmented playing field of multilateral governance, three steps are necessary. First, we need to shift our focus to prevention. A lot of the problems we are facing today in the Middle East, for example, and their major spill over effects affecting all of us, could have been avoided if we had been better at targeting the root causes of the conflicts there and the emergence of groups such as ISIS or its predecessors. Targeting the operational and effective work that the United Nations carries out on the political and developmental challenges that sooner rather than later translate into crisis and humanitarian needs, is essential. Second, we need to become much better at working horizontally, across issues, thus re-enforcing a sense of shared responsibility for our common future. New partnerships are required. And third, in a world where individuals are increasingly empowered through technology and education, we need to get better at educating and communicating directly with them. Well-informed individuals who know about the shortcomings as well as the unparalleled benefits of the work of the United Nations and for them personally will be the first in line to drive the positive change that is needed.

The Sustainable Development Goals are a unique opportunity to adjust structures and is a primary framework within which we can most productively meet the current complex challenges. Based on my experience of more than 35 years in the United Nations, the UN family, with the help of Member States, Civil Society, Academia and the private sector, can- if given the required political backing - manage to work horizontally and across sectors to deliver on these Global Goals. The seventeen goals touch upon each individual’s daily life. Hence, you and me, like all other individuals, have to make our contribution. Today’s conference brings together individuals with great experience in the United Nations and in international affairs more broadly with the creativity of the younger generation. Together, we can make a difference and every one of us has a responsibility to do so.

Thank you very much.