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UN's Guy Ryder calls for inclusivity and collaboration to tackle global problems
In a Global Stage conversation from inside the United Nations headquarters during the 79th General Assembly, Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, addressed the challenges of global collaboration in today’s divided world. Despite geopolitical tensions and ongoing conflicts, Ryder stressed that member states are committed to implementing the Pact for the Future, an inter-governmentally negotiated pact focused on tackling today's global issues to protect the needs and interests of future generations.
Speaking with GZERO’s Tony Maciulis, Ryder highlighted the importance of inclusivity in moving forward. "We need to work not for young people but with young people as well. Everybody's involved," he said. Ryder emphasized that collaboration across governments, the private sector, and civil society is critical, particularly in areas like technology and youth participation.
The discussion also touched on the UN’s role in AI governance, with Ryder noting that the UN remains the only place where all 193 member states have a seat at the table. He acknowledged the UN’s shortcomings but highlighted how UN successes are often invisible. "What about that war that never happened because of UN mediation?"
Mr. Ryder also reinforced that the UN is not above reform: "Let's not think that was put in place in 1945, and has served very well the international community for decades, is immutable, is perfect, cannot be improved."
On the topic of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ryder remained optimistic, despite setbacks. “We were off track almost from the first day,” he said, adding that the world must continue pushing towards the 2030 goals. Ryder sees technology as a powerful tool for both skilling and education, critical for achieving the SDGs.
Why the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals are not on track to be financed soon
The world faces a sustainable development crisis, and while most countries have strategies in place, they don’t have the cash to back them up. How far off track are we with the financing needed to support the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, ranging from quality education and health care to climate action and clean water?
Shari Spiegel, who runs the UN’s Financing for Sustainable Development Office, sat down with GZERO’s Tony Maciulis at a Global Stage event for the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings this week. She explains that the SDGs were off track even before the pandemic and that now, owing to global crises, many poorer countries have slipped backwards.
“We actually started backtracking on many of these goals as countries were under enormous stress, and particularly the poorest countries,” she said, noting that the global output of many of the poorest nations has fallen by 30% — and some, such as the Small Island Developing States, by 40%. This has led to an enormous finance divide — raising SDG financing and investment gaps from $2 trillion a few years ago to around $4 trillion today.
So how can the UN restrengthen multilateralism and, in turn, help narrow this gap? Watch here.
For more of our 2024 IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings coverage, visit Global Stage.
Eddie Ndopu: "People with disabilities need to be in leadership"
As many as 98% of disabled children in the developing world “never see the inside of a classroom” or go to school at all, says Eddie Ndopu. He could have been one of that vast majority. Born in Namibia, he was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and expected to live for only five years. Now 33, Ndopu is a leading advocate for human rights and accessibility for all.
GZERO’s Tony Maciulis caught up with Ndopu at the UN General Assembly this week. The two discussed his role as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Advocates, a prominent position he shares alongside leaders including Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, and Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith. He hopes to bring a “fresh” perspective to the discussion of global development and help leaders understand the needs of the most vulnerable people, including those with disabilities.
Ndopu credits his success to his fiercely strong single mother, who never gave up on him despite all odds, and he continues to pay it forward and find new ways to raise awareness of the need for greater inclusion. He describes his recent memoir "Sipping Dom Perignon through a Straw" as “equal parts cheeky and incisive.” Just like him.
More from Global Stage: https://www.gzeromedia.com/global-stage/
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Youth representative Ayakha Melithafa, speaks during the opening of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit 2023, at U.N. headquarters in New York City.
UN General Assembly day one: Not a Vanity Fair event
The first big day of the UN General Assembly proved to be character-building for those who dared to venture outside without gumboots or an umbrella.
The skies above Turtle Bay were tinged in silver-gray as delegates from 193 countries descended on the UN headquarters for the 78th General Assembly.
Monday was something akin to a warm up: Much of the focus in the Assembly hall was on the UN’s lofty Sustainable Development Goals, essentially a global to-do-list, including targets like poverty and hunger eradication. Progress so far, however, has been spotty as only 15% of the goals are even on track.
When asked if he was concerned that the absence this week of some powerful world leaders – like France’s Emmanuel Macron, the UK’s Rishi Sunak and China’s Xi Jinping – would undermine efforts to revive the sagging SDG’s, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres replied sternly: “this is not Vanity Fair … what matters is that [states] are represented.”
While the halls of the UN contain a nervous energy, some heads of state just seemed happy to be there.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appeared unphased by the New York drear, taking time out to get fresh air and take in the view of the East River with his crew, who shared takeaway cafeteria coffees.
Team Germany, on the other hand, was less relaxed. Clad in a navy-blue trench coat in lieu of an umbrella, Chancellor Olaf Sholz, flocked by aides, made a brief dash across the plaza. Meanwhile, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who has a very intense few days ahead of her as debt mitigation efforts are a major theme of the summit – also made her way through the corridors.
But the UN General Assembly isn’t just a Superbowl for foreign policy nerds – many real celebrities also appear in the flesh to champion the organization and its mission.
Fashion mogul Diane von Furstenberg, donned in unpresuming black, visited an exhibition dedicated to showcasing the Sustainable Development Goals. Meanwhile, actor and women’s rights advocate Natalie Portman also braved the rain to discuss the ongoing abuse of women and girls around the world, and “ingrained cultural biases” that subordinate half the world's population. It’s an issue Portman has worked on for many years.
A fellow spectator tried to strike up a conversation as we rubbed shoulders while exiting the panel event: “She [Portman] should have smiled more. She looked angry.” You just can’t make this stuff up ... Welcome to the UN General Assembly in New York City!
2023 UN General Assembly's top objective, according to António Guterres
Every year, world leaders and top diplomats descend on New York City for the annual UN General Assembly, or "UNGA," as it's known. And this year's UNGA promises to be a blockbuster week, given the array of urgent global challenges facing the United Nations. From an unending war in Ukraine, lurching into its third year, to a climate-battered planet that UN Secretary-General has described as "Global Boiling," to growing hunger and poverty worldwide, there's plenty to discuss.
But what's the one thing to watch out for? That's what Ian Bremmer asks UN Secretary-General António Guterres in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview for GZERO World, days ahead of UNGA week. "There will be of course a lot of discussions on Ukraine," Guterres tells Bremmer, "But our most important objective in this week is in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals Summit. And the possibility not only to improve a declaration that is far-reaching, but to have a number of strong commitments by member states and by other entities in relation to the sustainable rules in general and climate in particular."
It remains to be seen if the Ukraine war will suck all the oxygen out of the room, or if member nations can agree on which urgent global challenges to tackle first.
Watch the full GZERO World interview: UN Chief on mounting global crises: "Hope never dies"
Watch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld and on US public television. Check local listings.
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Shocks making it harder to meet Sustainable Development Goals
After the pandemic and now the global food crisis, meeting the UN's Sustainable Goals by the 2030 deadline will be a tall order.
But actually it's previous systemic challenges aggravated by those crises that are undermining the push to achieve the SDGs, Kathryn Hollifield, from the World Bank's Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, explained during a livestream discussion on the global food crisis hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
To get the job done in time, she recommends moving on from global commitments to making progress at then national and local levels.
"Let's get off the global stage for a minute and focus on getting support to the ground and having our teams on the ground talk to each other," Hollifield said.
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