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Global Futures Forum 2023: Interim People’s Pact

Project Note

Contributed by The Coalition for the UN We Need, the Global Governance Innovation Network

Posted 1 September 2023

   

The first edition of the Global Futures Forum took place 20-21 March in hybrid format from New York.

The United Nations Summit of the Future (SOTF), proposed for September 2024 in New York,  is a critical milestone in the reform process initiated by UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s Our Common Agenda report. It is intended to “advance ideas for governance arrangements in the areas of international concern mentioned in this report, and potentially others where arrangements are nascent or require updating." This gathering will take place a year after the SDG Summit and the Ministerial Meeting on a Summit of the Future, scheduled for September 2023 and likely to define the scope and ambition of the SOTF. 

In order to ensure that diverse civil society perspectives are engaged in the preparatory process of the 2024 Summit of the Future and preceding 2023 SOTF Ministerial Forum to build the UN we need, a civil society-led Global Futures Forum (GFF) took place in hybrid format from New York.

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Launching the Interim People's Pact!

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New York, 15 May 2023 Global civil society organizations have today launched the Interim ‘People’s Pact for the Future.’ This is a collaborative effort to amplify the voices of civil society in the discussions leading to the 2024 Summit of the Future, that seeks to reinvigorate the multilateral system, and fulfil commitments made inthe 2030 Agenda. Led by the Coalition for the UN We Need, the 'People's Pact' seeks to consolidate civil society proposals and insights, stimulate further debate, and encourage the participation of all stakeholders in building a more sustainable and equitable future.

"The goal is to ensure that the urgent need for reform of the multilateral system benefits from perspectives from all countries and populations, women and men, and all generations in order to respond to today’s challenges of building a peaceful and flourishing global society” said the Co-Chair of the Coalition for UN We Need, Maria Fernanda Espinosa during the launch of the People’s Pact.

The People’s Pact is a culmination of extensive preparatory processes including e-consultations with over 1600 participants across seven thematic tracks, as well as, nine regional consultations, an the run-up to the March 20-21 Global Futures Forum (GFF). Withover 200 in-person participants and 2000 virtual registrants, the GFF brought civil society representatives into dialogue with UN Member State delegates, Secretariat officials, and other stakeholders.

Nudhara Yusuf, the Coordinator of this year's GFF explained that “this Interim Peoples Pact is an evolving living document and therefore we welcome and look forward to constructive feedback as we continue engaging in further regional, online and thematic consultations in the coming months, with a particular emphasis on youth involvement, leading up to a planned second Global Futures Forum in early 2024 and the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024 .

The recommendations contained in the Interim People's Pact are driven by five key objectives: a longer-term future orientation, global institution reform, a whole of society approach, meeting existing commitments, and building trust. The seven thematic areas chosen for deliberation are based on a combination of the pillars of the United Nations and the tracks identified in the UN Secretary-General's Our Common Agenda report. They include development and the SDGs, environmental governance, human rights and participation, the global digital compact, the global economic and financial architecture, peace and security, and UN and global governance innovation.

“The urgency of the moment calls for concrete reform of the international order”, said Dan Perell, Co-Chair of the Coalition for the UN We Need “given the profound challenges humanity is facing, Member States must seize the rare opportunity of this sequence of Summits to imagine, and bring into being, a flourishing world characterized by justice and equality.”

The Coalition for the UN We Need has created an interactive platform that calls on individuals to read the People’s Pact and provide feedback, in a bid to ensure that comprehensive considerations are made on all perspectives towards developing recommendations that address concerns of both present and future generations

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contact: Jeffery Huffines, C4UN Senior Advisor, +1 646 707-1060

Briefing Note

Civil Society Organizations worldwide have called for a strengthened United Nations to address emerging 21st century challenges and opportunities. At the Global Futures Forum from March 20-21—which reached over 2,000 registered participants from across the globe both online and in person in New York—CSOs deliberated on some three dozen reform proposals and engaged key diplomats, UN officials, and others to better understand how the suggestions could be implemented. A key to success will be the meaningful engagement of Civil Society in the preparation of the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals Summit and the 2024 Summit of the Future. 

 “In spite of the diversity of backgrounds and interests among participants there is a common denominator that unites us,” opened Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Co-Chair of theCoalition for the UN We Need and Executive Director, Global Women Leaders: Voices for Change and Inclusion. “We want the UN, the multilateral architecture to deliver more and better and to respond to the global governance challenges of today’s world.” 

The SDG Summit, scheduled for September 2023, is this year’s top UN priority, said the UN’s Under Secretary-General for Policy, Guy Ryder, and Summit Co-Facilitators, Ambassador Fergal Mythen of Ireland and Ambassador Alya Al Thani of Qatar. Citing the vital contributions of Civil Society in the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, Ryder emphasized the need for the preparatory processes of the Summit of the Future (SOTF) to include strong multi stakeholder engagement. 

The Global Futures Forum featured reports from recent CSO regional forums, a deep dive into the gender dimension of the proposals, and seven thematic consultation tracks where participants discussed numerous proposals for the reform and reimagining of the institutions and practice of global governance. These seven thematic tracks addressed issues such as the global economic and financial architecture, environmental governance, building inclusive, just and peaceful societies, adopting a Global Digital Compact, peace and security, human rights, and promoting meaningful engagement in governance, especially for youth, women and vulnerable populations in the Global South.

These thematic discussions represent contributions to an interim “People’s Pact for the Future,” which will be an evolving vehicle for feeding diverse civil society ideas and insights into official discussions on the SOTF outcome document.

At the concluding session, German Ambassador Antja Leendertse provided delegates with additional details on SOTF preparations, including the upcoming discussions on the scope of the SOTF and the imminent report of the High-level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism appointed by the Secretary-General last year. 

On behalf of the organizers, Ms Espinosa thanked delegates for their commitment. “This movement for a better UN is real, is serious and is much needed. The time is now. We have our homework ahead of us

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