At the end of the Summit of the Future, the 193 member states of the United Nations will adopt by consensus the Pact for the Future, an 18,000-word document that sets out 58 actions to strengthen the global system. There have been last-minute wrangles over the wording on climate, disarmament, international financial architecture, gender and human rights and some of the actions set out read more like aspirations than proposals.
On the reform of the UN Security Council, for example, the pact recognises an urgent need to make it “more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable” but makes no specific proposal for how to change it. It does, however, set out guiding principles for reform, including to “redress the historical injustice against Africa as a priority” and improving the representation of the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The question of the veto is a key element of Security Council reform. We will intensify efforts to reach an agreement on the future of the veto, including discussions on limiting its scope and use,” it says.
There are several proposals to reform the international financial architecture so that it better supports the UN’s sustainable development and climate goals. They agree to strengthen the multilateral response to support countries with unsustainable debt burdens, inviting the International Monetary Fund to look at ways to improve the sovereign debt architecture.
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The pact reaffirms the member-states’ commitment to the UN Charter, including respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It says that human rights include the right to development but recommits the UN’s member states to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“We will respect, protect, promote and fulfil all human rights, recognising their universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness and we will be unequivocal in what we stand for and uphold: freedom from fear and freedom from want for all,” it says.
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