To Remain Vital in Today’s World, United Nations Needs Comprehensive Reform, Say General Assembly Presidents on Eightieth Anniversary of Organization

The Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly congratulates the United Nations on the eightieth anniversary of its founding. On this historic occasion, it is vitally important to recognize and celebrate the achievements which the Organization has accomplished. The Charter of the United Nations has been the foundation of the post-World War international order and an indispensable framework for promoting multilateral cooperation in an increasingly interdependent world. It has saved humanity from the scourge of a new world war, a nuclear holocaust, prevented or settled numerous conflicts, advanced human rights, facilitated decolonization of numerous countries, promoted economic and social development, provided indispensable humanitarian assistance and created a global framework to address climate change and other serious environmental problems. Moreover, the UN has successfully advocated and facilitated widespread acceptance and adoption of international law as a normative pillar of all international relations, creating harmony, stability and predictability in inter-State relations.

The Council of Presidents reaffirms that peace and security, development and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations system and the foundations of collective security and well-being. There is no peace without development, no development without peace, and no peace and no development without human rights.

To ensure that the UN continues to play an indispensable role in the twenty-first century, there is an urgent need to undertake a comprehensive reform of the Organization to further bolster its relevance and strengthen its credibility. The ongoing paralysis of the Security Council highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the UN as it undermines the Organization's primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security. To this end, the Council of Presidents calls for the urgent convening of a special session of the UN General Assembly to revitalize and reform the role of the UN in the peace and security field within the framework of Chapter VI and VII of the Charter of the UN. This could subsequently lead to a broader reform of the Organization through a general conference to review the Charter of the UN within the framework of Article 109.

The proposed special session of the UN General Assembly should address the following specific threats to international peace and security:

a) The crisis of multilateralism: In today's increasingly interdependent world, a growing number of Member States are pursuing exclusively narrow national interests and trying to secure or expand their spheres of influence, in contravention to the common good, represented by the United Nations and the common values enshrined in its Charter.

b) Crisis of international law: It is arising from the growing violations of the fundamental principles of the Charter of the UN, major international conventions and multilateral agreements that are the foundation of the current post-World War order. Furthermore, the growing egregious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law pose a growing danger to international peace and security, and to humanity itself.

c) Increasing danger of great Power confrontation including potential nuclear conflict: The growing polarization and tensions between major Powers in different regions of the world, as well as proliferation of serious regional conflicts involving nuclear-armed countries, and erosions of nuclear arms agreement pose a potentially grave threat to the peace, security, and prosperity in the world.

d) Potential threat of artificial general intelligence: The rapid acceleration of technological progress particularly in the field of artificial intelligence poses unprecedented opportunities, but serious challenges to humanity in the twenty-first century. While harnessing the benefits of this rapid technological progress, there is an urgent need for the United Nations to build an effective international framework to address the dangers posed by rapid evolution of artificial general intelligence which could exceed human capabilities and pose potential threat to humanity itself.

The forthcoming election of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations presents a significant opportunity to revitalize and strengthen the leadership of the UN. To this end, the Council of Presidents calls for an enhanced role from the UN General Assembly in the election process to ensure that this takes place in a transparent, democratic and inclusive manner involving all 193 Member States of the UN. The Council of Presidents expresses its full support for the efforts by President of the UN General Assembly to strengthen the role of the Assembly, as a principal organ of the UN, including in the election process. Serious consideration should be given to maintaining geographical rotation and ensuring gender balance considering that there has never been a woman in the position in the 80 years of history of the United Nations. The Council of Presidents supports the call by the President of the UN General Assembly that a qualified woman candidate should be elected as the next Secretary-General.

The Council of Presidents is greatly concerned by the growing financial crisis affecting the UN and its specialized agencies, which poses a great threat to the future of the Organization. To this end, the Council of Presidents calls all UN Member States and, in particular, its major contributors, to fulfil their legal obligations under the Charter of the UN to ensure stable and predictable financial foundation for the Organization's work in the twenty-first century.

The reform and revitalization of the United Nations is fundamentally important to address the growing aspirations of the youth of today and to secure the future of succeeding generations for whom the Charter of the UN was originally established in 1945.