UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan, speaking on behalf of a seventeen-member like-minded group at consultations for the United Nations’ (UN) ‘Summit of the Future’, has stressed the need for its outcome document to accommodate the priorities and concerns of the developing countries.
As the consultations resumed on Thursday to prepare for the ambitious Summit, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN Munir Akram said that this must reflect on our commitment to achieve unity and consensus in the negotiations.
The 2024 Summit was proposed by UN chief Antonio Guterres in his ‘Our Common Agenda’ report to address the problems of peace and security, setting out a “New Agenda for Peace,” with more investment for peace-building, support for regional conflict prevention, a reduction of strategic risks such as cyberwarfare and nuclear weapons, and a dialogue on outer space to ensure that it is used peacefully and sustainable.
Summit to adopt ‘A Pact for the Future’ outcome document
The Summit will adopt ‘A Pact for the Future’ – a concise, action-oriented outcome document, to be agreed in advance by consensus through intergovernmental talks.
The co-facilitators leading the intergovernmental preparatory process for the summit are Namibia’s UN Ambassador Neville Melvin Gertze and Germany’s UN Ambassador Antje Leendertse.
The like-minded group, on whose behalf the Pakistani ambassador spoke, include Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, Algeria, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Russia, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Sri Lanka, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said the talks on “A Pact for the Future” should build upon the areas of agreement on ‘elements’ that emerged during the consultations held before the current session of the UN General Assembly.
He said that these “elements” should be agreed first, before moving on to working on their details. Otherwise, the preparatory process will have no intergovernmental direction.
The envoy said that the full eradication of poverty must be a crosscutting and overarching issue across all negotiations.
