ISO Council100th meeting

Dr ZHANG, ISO President,
Mr MCKINLEY, ISO Acting Secretary-General,
Members of the ISO Council,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,


I am pleased to be here today to celebrate with you the 100th meeting of the ISO Council and to express my sincere appreciation to ISO for the good cooperation with the UN family throughout the years.

Since its creation, ISO has published more than 19,000 International Standards and related documents, covering almost every industry, from technology, to food safety, to agriculture and healthcare, an impressive number. A recent report stated that “ISO International Standards make things work, they impact everyone, everywhere”. This is exactly the same message that I convey every time I speak about the United Nations in Geneva and the wider ‘International Geneva’. There is not a single person in the world that is not touched on a daily basis by a decision taken here in Geneva or by the work of the wide range of stakeholders present here.

And in particular today, as we prepare for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the global road map that the world agreed upon and that will guide our collective work for the next decade and a half, Geneva’s role, as the main operational hub of the multilateral system, will be even more important.

I am very glad that ISO joined the Perception Change Project, together with another 85 partners from International organisations, NGOs, academia and government entities, and supporters spanning from think thanks to the private sector. The true value of these partnerships is not only the technical expertise, but also the connections across institutions that have been built up over the years. The objective is not to put the spotlight on any one organization but to create synergies and to ensure that the value of our collective effort is fully recognized by everyone – and I can say that we are already seeing some good results.

Last year, the Perception Change Project mapped International Geneva’s expertise in the SDG implementation. ISO, for its part, showed expertise in norms and standard setting virtually in all the goals.

Another example is with regard to food standards: we welcomed the participation of a speaker from an ISO member from Italy in the International Geneva Food Talks at EXPO Milan. This innovative presentation showed the collective impact of International Organizations on the entire food chain.

ISO is also one of the front-runners of our efforts to make available the information generated by all the actors working in International Geneva for peace, rights and well-being. It was one of the first to contribute to the ‘GVAData’ project, a powerful navigable tool that allows users to easily find the right data.

The collaboration with UNECE, the Economic Commission for Europe, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on producing standards for electronic business is another example of a longstanding partnership between the UN family and ISO.

I know that ISO also adopts standards produced in UNECE, for instance on Trade facilitation, and I know that there have been discussions on developing a business model that can further encourage such cooperation between the standard setting bodies of the UN and ISO.

Furthermore, UNECE is now working to make effective use of international standards including ISO standards as a transformative force for sustainable development. And to showcase how standards can support public goals at national level, as well as international objectives such as the SDGs, the Paris Climate agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

By 2050, around 75% of the world’s population will be living in cities, and ISO’s engagement to help these urban areas become more connected and more sustainable is needed more than ever. ISO standard 37120, the first ISO standard for sustainable and resilient cities, is a great example. And I look forward to the outcomes of the World Smart City Forum in July this year.

Furthermore, the ISO standard on "Risk Management" (ISO 31000) is being used by UN agencies such as UNISDR and UNECE, to develop guidance for authorities in designing regulatory frameworks. ISO/TC 292, on the other hand, is also responsible for security and continuity management that support the work of organizations in preparing for disasters.

And the list is much longer. In summary, ISO is recognized as an important partner in building a safe and resilient planet Earth !

In closing, I should like to admit, that, in my capacity as Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, I personally, repeatedly refer to the ISO’s successful redefinition of its ‘consensus-based decision-making’ when adopting new standards. I cite this example when talking about the deadlock in which the Conference on Disarmament finds itself, in part because of its definition of consensus, and my aim here is to try to learn from others, to helps us, the UN, to change.

Let me finish by thanking you once again for the invitation and for the excellent cooperation in the past years. Last, but not least, let me thank you on behalf of the UN family for allowing UN staff to access ISO standards. We are making good use of this opportunity and will continue to do so!