Taking the pulse of #multilateralism: 4 takeaways from UNGA 78

Corinne Momal-Vanian , Kofi Annan Foundation Executive Director, reflects on a week of events around the 78th United Nations General Assembly.

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I am back in Geneva after an intense week of meetings and discussions in New York on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78).

As was the case last year, the tone of official statements by many heads of state or government was tense and even acrimonious. Many rightly stressed the urgency of reforming the multilateral system and, in particular, the international financial institutions, a reform for which Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados already made a clear case last year when she delivered the inaugural Kofi Annan Lecture .

My four main takeaways from UNGA 78 ?:

1) Youth Inclusion is finally being taken seriously.

I had a sense that international organizations, as well as NGOs, are moving beyond tokenism to truly include young people in decision-making. Eloquent and passionate young advocates were part of all the discussions I attended.?

"I got the sense that youth inclusion is finally being taken seriously."

At the excellent Unlock the Future event hosted on 20 September by the United Nations Foundation at the Ford Foundation , I met a number of inspirational young leaders, including, Jacob Blasius , Global Student Forum leader, who told me of his role as a Danish Youth Delegate; Bas van Rossum , a young member of the Governing Board of the International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC Red Cross (ICRC); and our very own Taylor Dee Hawkins , a Kofi Annan Changemaker and super-efficient organizer of the event.

At the 21 September Education Reimagined event organized by Diplomatic Courier , Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) and EY , the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Youth Global Ambassador Máximo Mazzocco from Argentina made a convincing case about using innovative tools to educate young people about climate change.

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2) Funding must come in many different forms.

Some of us expressed concern that efforts to scale up action massively to increase impact risked excluding innovative solutions driven by young people or women. Organizations that are in a position to deliver at scale are often well-established organizations led by men.

I talked in several fora (including at the Clinton Global Initiative roundtable on Financing Mental Health hosted by the Clinton Foundation , Kokoro and McKinsey Health Institute , and the Business Fights Poverty Global Goals Summit 2023 session on Catalysing Female Entrepreneurship) of the need for small grants to early-stage social entrepreneurs and investments in youth-driven start-ups to complement the large-scale donations that can support policy changes and action at the national level.

"There is a need to encourage entrepreneurship and provide young people with green skills and grants."

On my last day, I participated in a very forward-looking discussion on “Creating Millions of Green Jobs” with Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Yunus Centre founder Muhammad Yunus , Gilles Vermot Desroches at 施耐德电气 and Alizée Lozac'hmeur from makesense , who stressed the need to encourage entrepreneurship and provide young people with green skills and grants.

3) A strong focus on Africa

Everyone acknowledges Africa's growing influence - despite the real challenges faced by its populations - and agrees it is high time for this to be reflected by giving Africa a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

It was also clear at events such as the Global Africa Business Initiative ’s #unstoppableAfrica event that much of the growth in Africa will be driven by young entrepreneurs.

Growth in Africa will be driven by young entrepreneurs.

I was happy to discuss with colleagues from the Nelson Mandela Foundation how we can foster accountable leadership in the continent’s new generation.

4) There is hope for multilateralism.

The new networked and inclusive multilateralism that the UN Secretary-General has called for is slowly taking shape.

While official speakers in the UNGA agreed on the severity of today’s “polycrisis”, with conflict, authoritarianism, and hunger on the rise, low- and middle-income countries trapped in debt, and climate change accelerating, there was little consensus on the way forward. Even the UNSG’s Summit Of The Future preparatory process is mired in controversy.

Nevertheless, I saw signs of hope, mostly from civil society actors determined to step in, put the SDGs back on track and take real climate action.

"I saw signs of hope for multilateralism, mostly from civil society actors determined to step in."

I remain concerned that without major reform, the multilateral system cannot yield the urgent agreements it needs to deliver. Civil society and the private sector, however, are clearly not going to wait for governments to get their act together.

Corinne Momal-Vanian is the Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation .

Did you attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly or events around it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.