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The UN Emergency Platform Idea is Not a “Power Grab”—It’s a Force Multiplier

Commentary

Contributed by Stimson Center

Posted 25 August 2023

   

It is necessary to recognize that this initiative emerges out of a cascading array of disasters that spotlight major gaps in global governance.

By Peter Hoffman, and Richard Ponzio

In his (September 2021) Our Common Agenda report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for a new Emergency Platform to respond to complex global crises, such as future pandemic risks, a major climatic event, or disruption to global flows of goods or people (e.g., causing food or energy insecurity). Despite facing criticisms in certain quarters, the idea is both timely and necessary, designed to harness existing resources and institutional machinery for improved crisis management, both from within and beyond the United Nations system.

A March 2023 follow-on UN policy brief on the Emergency Platform idea further elaborates:

The Emergency Platform would not be a standing body or entity but a set of protocols that could be activated when needed. … [it would] bring together all relevant actors that can contribute to the response – including but not limited to networks of willing Member States, the United Nations system, international financial institutions, regional bodies and relevant private sector, civil society, academic and non-governmental actors – while recognizing the primary role of intergovernmental organs in decision-making; …The Emergency Platform should provide high-level political support and advocacy for the day-to-day operational and coordination activities carried out by mandated entities.

In a recent critique of the proposal, The Heritage Foundation’s Brett Schaefer expresses concern that it will undermine U.S. sovereignty, arguing that: i) the Emergency Platform represents a “stunning attempted power grab” by the Secretary-General by granting more authority to international bureaucrats and establishing new supranational rules; ii) its structure will diminish the authority of national governments and pressure them into cooperation through the platform’s “decrees”; and iii) the overarching goal of next year’s Summit of the Future is to enhance the UN and Secretary-General’s power, through the adoption of the Emergency Platform and other proposals, at the expense of Member States.

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