From Words to Action: Our Common Agenda and the UN75 Declaration

Event Co-Sponsors: Coalition for the UN We Need, Club de Madrid and the Global Governance Innovation Network.

On 21 September 2020, the United Nations’ 193 Member States adopted the Declaration on the Commemoration of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the United Nations (UN75 Declaration), which outlines a vision and twelve distinct commitments addressing the world’s most pressing threats and opportunities. The milestone UN75 Declaration called for “the Secretary-General to report back before the end of the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly with recommendations to advance our common agenda and to respond to current and future challenges.” Based on “a process of profound reflection” on the future of multilateralism and global governance, the Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda (to be released roughly two weeks prior to this event) is expected to reflect diverse stakeholder perspectives—from civil society and business groups to Member States, youth representatives, and thought leaders—and chart a path forward for strengthening the United Nations. 

This UNGA side event is meant to inspire participants to use this moment for innovating and strengthening the world body and fulfill the promise of the UN75 Declaration and the Secretary-General’s vision of a “more inclusive and networked multilateralism.” The response to COVID-19 has been a stress test for the international community and demonstrated the need to rethink, innovate, and strengthen the United Nations and the global governance architecture to address the world’s most pressing challenges.

The event objectives are: 

Advance a discussion about how the recommendations presented in the Our Common Agenda report can best catalyze action for taking forward the UN75 Declaration’s twelve commitments, drawing on the unique role played by Member States, the UN Secretary-General, civil society and other stakeholders in implementing its recommendations.

Identify where the OCA might benefit from additional perspectives, and propose strategies for a more inclusive, stronger, reformed, and reinvigorated United Nations that can deliver on the promise of the UN75 Declaration. 

Mobilize UN Member States and diverse non-governmental actors worldwide to explore modalities for initiating a meaningful post-UN75 follow-on process, including the idea of a dedicated intergovernmental process to strengthen and reform the UN system—as called for by fifty former ministers of government and senior United Nations officials—which can lead up to a major summit or conference.

Panelists:

Anna Karin Eneström, Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly and Co-Chair, Coalition for the UN We Need 

Volker Türk, Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General 

Nudhara Yusuf, Member of the Coalition for the UN We Need Secretariat