Pact for the future
sustainable development and financing for development
1.Sustainable development and financing for development
We reaffirm that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is our road map for achieving sustainable development and overcoming the multiple crises that we face and that the 2030 Agenda provides a blueprint for meeting the needs of present and future generations. We commit to urgently taking bold, ambitious, accelerated, just and trans formative actions to realize the 2030 Agenda and to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind.
We also reaffirm our commitment to the outcome of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit convened on 18 and 19 September 2023, in which we expressed our determination to implement a plan of action for people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership, leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first.
We further reaffirm the centrality of ensuring the full implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda, and recommit to providing the means of implementation to support developing countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
We acknowledge that the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development correspond overwhelmingly to existing human rights commitments, including the right to development. We affirm that Human rights principles must continue to inform the implementation of the Agenda.
We remain resolved, between now and 2030, to end poverty in all its forms and dimensions and hunger, everywhere, as a priority. We recognize our responsibility to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources and that we may be the last generation to have a chance of saving the planet.
We reaffirm our commitment to leave no one behind in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda; to respect, protect and fulfill all human rights without discrimination; to achieve universal and quality education, and to take targeted and accelerated action to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and remove all legal, social and economic barriers to achieve gender equality. We reaffirm that achieving gender equality, empowering all women and girls, and the full realization of their human rights are essential to achieving sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and sustainable development.
We welcome the call by the Secretary-General for a rescue plan for people and planet, centered around strengthening governance and institutions for sustainable and inclusive transformation, prioritizing policies and investments that have multiplier effects across the Sustainable Development Goals and securing a surge in financing for the Sustainable Development Goals and an enabling global environment for developing countries to invest in a sustainable future for their people and the betterment of our common humanity.
We commit to following up on recent high-level meetings of the United Nations related to sustainable development and financing for development, including the United Nations Food Systems Summit (2021), the Transforming Education Summit (2022), the United Nations Water Conference (2023), the Sustainable Development Goals Summit (2023), the high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (2023), the high-level meeting on universal health coverage (2023), and the high-level meeting on the fight against tuberculosis (2023).
We reaffirm all the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, including, inter alia, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, as set out in principle 7 thereof. We recognize that to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources a fundamental shift is needed – in commitment, solidarity, financing and action – to put the world on a better path and support the well-being of present and future generations.
We commit to accelerating ongoing efforts related to the environment and to effectively addressing the adverse impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and desertification through the implementation of inter-governmentally agreed commitments, including those made in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
We commit to achieving a world in which humanity lives in harmony with nature, to conserving and sustainably using our planet’s marine and terrestrial resources, including through sustainable lifestyles, and sustainable consumption and production, to reversing the trends of environmental degradation, to promoting resilience, to reducing disaster risk, and to halting ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. We will conserve and sustainably use oceans and seas, freshwater resources, as well as forests, mountains and dry lands and protect biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife.
We take note of the outcome of the first global stock take of the Paris Agreement adopted at the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.
We recognize the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 °C pathways and calls on Parties to contribute to global effort including through accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.
We commit to setting a deadline for eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, helping achieve transformation while supporting a sustainable inclusive and equitable pathway to economic growth.
We encourage Parties to come forward in their next nationally determined contributions with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 C, as informed by the latest science, in the light of different national circumstances.
We welcome the ope-rationalization of the funding arrangements, including the Fund, for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, and the pledges of USD 792 million to the Fund. We invite financial contributions with developed country Parties continuing to take the lead to provide financial resources for commencing the ope-rationalization of the Fund.
We recognize the significant adaptation finance needs of developing countries between now and 2030, including the need to invest in clean energy, and we further recognize the increasing needs every year up until 2050, to be able to reach net zero emissions.
We recognize that climate change reinforces the need for affordable, long-term capital. We encourage the consolidation of climate finance vehicles, including among the international financial institutions, with the aim of supporting countries to address climate change. We acknowledge the work led by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to develop a new climate finance framework and support its further elaboration, alongside finance for sustainable development, in advance of the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025.
We are deeply concerned by the increase in the estimated Sustainable Development Goals financing gap and we recognize that a step-change is needed in the quantity and quality of development finance to meet the Goals.
We are committed to ensuring that all countries have the necessary means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including the necessary financial resources. We welcome the call by the Secretary-General for an SDG Stimulus and acknowledge support for its elaboration. We will continue to advance the Secretary-General’s proposal through discussions at the United Nations as well as other relevant forums and institutions.
We recognize the primary role played by domestic resources in financing development. We recommit to preventing and combating illicit financial flows. We urge donor countries to scale up and fulfill their official development assistance commitments. While we acknowledge that official development assistance alone cannot meet the financing needs of the Sustainable Development Goals, we agree that official development assistance is a vital means of support, in particular for poor and vulnerable nations, to invest in global public goods.
We welcome the increase in official development assistance devoted to helping developing countries to address climate change. We call upon donors to make this increase additional to existing flows. We commit to explore options for improved monitoring, assessment and verification of additional climate financing.
We look forward to the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 to assess the progress made in the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and to address new and emerging issues that have an impact on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
We recall that States are strongly urged to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impede the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries.
PACT FOR THE FUTURE
International Peace and Security
2. International Peace and Security
We welcome the crucial contribution of the United Nations to the maintenance of international peace and security since its founding in 1945. We reaffirm our commitment to the Charter, including its purposes and principles, and international law, and to acting collectively and cooperatively to promote peace and prevent conflicts. We also reaffirm diplomacy and dialogue as the primary means to settle disputes and overcome divisions peacefully.
We recognize that the world is undergoing a significant transition and that we are facing new and interrelated threats to international peace and security. We reaffirm that, in the face of these threats, international cooperation remains indispensable and that the United Nations remains fundamental to achieving collective security.
We welcome the recommendations by the Secretary-General in the New Agenda for Peace to enhance the toolbox of the Charter to prevent the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of hostilities on land, at sea, in space and in cyberspace, to address the interrelated global threats to international peace and security, and to deliver on the promises of the Charter.
We recognize the interdependence of international peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. We reaffirm the need to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies that provide equal access to justice and are based on human rights, the rule of law and good governance at all levels and on transparent, effective and accountable institutions. In this regard, we recognize the importance of fostering a culture of peace, upholding the rule of law and promoting human security.
We recommit to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals to strengthen resilience and comprehensively address underlying drivers and enablers of violence and insecurity and the consequences thereof, which is central to international peace and security. We reaffirm our commitment to significantly reducing all forms of violence and we commit to halving violent death rates in all societies by 2030.
We reaffirm that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interrelated, interdependent and mutually reinforcing and that all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights must be treated in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis, and that they are essential to international peace and security as necessary guarantees of inclusive societies and protection against marginalization and discrimination.
We express our grave concern at the continuous and progressive erosion of international norms in the field of arms regulation, non-proliferation and disarmament. We commit to pursuing agreements on disarmament and the regulation of arms to benefit the well-being and security of humanity and reduce unnecessary suffering caused by diversion of resources to armaments.
We recognize the devastating impact of armed conflict on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and we reaffirm our commitment to the full respect of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and to granting humanitarian access, in line with resolution 46/182 and humanitarian principles.
We agree to strengthen the protection of civilians, including in populated areas of conflict zones and enhance mechanisms to mitigate harm to civilians. We also commit to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law and ensure accountability of perpetrators.
We express concern about all acts of violence, including direct attacks against humanitarian personnel and facilities, as well as medical personnel and other humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties. We commit to the protection of all humanitarian personnel, in line with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
We express our grave concern at the unprecedented number of people affected by humanitarian emergencies, including forced and increasingly protracted displacement which are growing in number, scale and severity. We note that, despite the unprecedented generosity of host countries and donors, the gap between needs and humanitarian funding continues to grow.
We reaffirm our collective commitments under the women and peace and security agenda, and we recognize the necessity of urgently advancing its implementation. We also recognize that without the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in decisions on peace and security, and the realization of women's rights in their indivisible entirety, peace cannot be achieved and sustained.
We recognize the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls and to accelerate action to achieve gender equality in all domains. We commit to strengthen the youth, peace and security agenda including through the meaningful and inclusive participation of youth in conflict prevention and resolution, peace-building, peace processes, post-conflict processes and humanitarian action, as well as to take concrete measures to further protect youth and children in armed conflict situations.
We recognize that the United Nations is the most inclusive organization for international diplomacy and a unique platform for preventive diplomacy, in line with the Charter and international law. We reaffirm diplomacy and dialogue as the primary means to settle disputes and overcome divisions peacefully, but also as means to enhance cooperation. We commit to availing ourselves of the tools referred to in Article 33 of the Charter to seek pacific settlements of disputes.
We commit to developing new, and revitalizing existing, confidence-building and crisis management mechanisms. We recognize these mechanisms as critical tools to forestall direct confrontations between Member States. We further commit to supporting mediation efforts, including the use of the good offices of the Secretary-General.
We request that the Secretary-General take concrete steps to strengthen the United Nations approach to preventive diplomacy in the current geopolitical context, building on the principles set out in the New Agenda for Peace.
We strongly encourage Member States to strengthen and develop regional frameworks for the prevention of conflict with the aim of reducing regional tensions and facilitating cooperation among Member States through concrete steps and protocols that build trust and confidence between States, including regional security architectures.
We recognize that peace-building is an inherently political process aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, recurrence or continuation of conflict. We affirm that all Member States have the responsibility to prevent conflict and build peace in their countries, through approaches based on national ownership and nationally defined priorities and anchored in all-of-government and all-of-society approaches centred on human rights, rule of law and human dignity.
We reaffirm the importance of providing adequate, sustainable, flexible and predictable financing to peace-building efforts, in particular the Peace-building Fund. We welcome the decision to establish the Peace-building Account, as a modality of financing the Peace-building Fund, and to approve 50 million United States dollars of assessed contributions to fund the Account, starting on 1 January 2025.
We encourage closer cooperation between the international financial institutions and the United Nations to assist Member States in addressing the underlying causes of instability, sustaining peace, supporting inclusive sustainable development and implementing the 2030 Agenda, including through ensuring an integrated and well-coordinated approach to funding.
We recognize that climate impacts can multiply risks that fuel conflict. We encourage the relevant organs of the United Nations, as appropriate and within their respective mandates, to intensify their efforts in considering and addressing climate change, including its possible security implications. We urge the Security Council to address the peace and security implications of climate change in the mandates of peace operations and during discussions on other country or regional situations on its agenda, where relevant.
We recognize that United Nations peace-keeping operations and special political missions are an essential part of the toolbox of the Charter to maintain international peace and security. We also recognize that peace-keeping combines the strengths, capabilities and expertise of a broad range of Member States. We acknowledge that peace operations can only succeed when political solutions to conflicts are actively pursued, and we request the Security Council to ensure that peace operations are deployed with clear and prioritized mandates, exit strategies and viable transition plans, and as part of a comprehensive approach to sustaining peace.
We acknowledge the important role of peace operations in advancing peace-building action and we reaffirm the centrality of partnership and engagement with regional and sub-regional organizations, and other partners, to comprehensively address peace and security challenges.
We commit to undertaking an inclusive, comprehensive reflection on the future of peace operations, including peace-keeping. We request the Secretary-General to continue to develop new models of peace operations that can respond to the evolving nature of conflict in traditional and new domains, while devising transition and exit strategies.
We reaffirm that enforcement action to maintain or restore international peace and security, authorized by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter and carried out by regional organizations or arrangements, or other multinational coalitions, should be better supported, including, where needed, by adequate, predictable and sustainable financing, including through United Nations-assessed contributions.
We emphasize that such enforcement action, including in counter-terrorism contexts, must be accompanied by inclusive political efforts and other non-military approaches to advance peace, to avoid over-securitization and civilian harm, and to address conflict drivers and related grievances, and must be based on full compliance with obligations under international law, including the Charter and relevant international conventions and protocols, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law.
We stress the need for adequate, predictable and sustainable financing for African Union and sub-regional peace support operations mandated by the Security Council. We welcome the adoption by the Security Council of resolution 2719 (2023), in which the Council agreed to consider on a case-by-case basis requests from the African Union Peace and Security Council seeking authorization from the United Nations Security Council for African Union-led peace support operations under chapters VII and VIII of the Charter to have access to United Nations assessed contributions. We encourage enhanced collaboration between the United Nations and the African Union towards effective implementation of that resolution.
We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and all terrorist acts, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. We commit to taking preventive measures, pursuant to international law, including international human rights law, to address all drivers and enablers of terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, in a balanced manner.
We reaffirm that nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity and that a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought. We recommit to the pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons. We will work collectively to reverse the erosion of international norms against the spread, testing and use of nuclear weapons, and the instruments that support these norms.
Pending the total elimination of nuclear weapons, we call upon the nuclear weapon States to take steps to prevent any use of nuclear weapons, including through mistake or miscalculation, to develop transparency and confidence-building measures, to accelerate the implementation of existing nuclear disarmament commitments, and to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in national security strategies. We further call upon the nuclear-weapon States to engage in dialogue on strategic stability and to elaborate next steps for further reductions of nuclear arsenals. We commit to strengthen measures to prevent the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by non-State actors.
We reaffirm the inalienable right of all countries to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination. We commit to revitalizing the role of the United Nations in the field of disarmament, including consideration of the role, timing and preparations of a fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, building on previous special sessions on disarmament.
We commit to achieving universality of treaties banning inhumane and indiscriminate weapons.We commit to strengthening the implementation of global mechanisms to combat, prevent and eradicate the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons and all its aspects. We commit to strengthening, developing, and implementing regional, sub-regional and national targets, instruments and road maps to address challenges related to the diversion, proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons and ammunition, including in transnational organized crime.
We acknowledge that the accelerating pace of technological change necessitates ongoing assessment and holistic understanding of new and emerging developments in science and technology impacting international peace and security, including through misuse by non-State actors, including for terrorism.
We commit to developing, through the relevant disarmament bodies of the United Nations and with the widest possible acceptance, international norms, rules and principles to address threats to space systems and, on that basis, launch negotiations on a treaty to ensure peace, security and the prevention of an arms race in outer space.
We reiterate our commitment that all States will be guided in their use of information and communications technologies by agreed norms of responsible State behavior. We undertake to ensure that infrastructure needed for the delivery of essential public services and for the functioning of society must never be subject to malicious information and communications technology activity, from both State and non-State actors.
Building on progress made in multilateral negotiations, we commit to concluding without delay a legally binding instrument to prohibit lethal autonomous weapons systems that function without human control or oversight, and which cannot be used in compliance with international humanitarian law, and to regulate all other types of autonomous weapons systems.
We commit to strengthening oversight mechanisms for the use of data-driven technology, including artificial intelligence, to support the maintenance of international peace and security. We also commit to developing norms, rules and principles on the design, development and use of military applications of artificial intelligence through a multilateral process, while also ensuring engagement with stakeholders from industry, academia, civil society and other sectors.
We recognize emerging and evolving biological risks and the need to anticipate, coordinate and prepare for such risks, whether caused by natural, accidental or deliberate release of biological agents and commit to exploring measures to address the risks involved in biotechnology and human enhancement technologies applied to the military domain.
PACT FOR THE FUTURE
Science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation
3. Science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation
We acknowledge the contribution of science, technology and innovation to sustainable development and as a critical source of economic growth and industrial development. We recognize that rapid technological change, in particular, can contribute to the faster achievement of the 2030 Agenda by improving real incomes, enabling faster and wider deployment of novel solutions, supporting more inclusive forms of participation and more sustainable modes of production, and giving policymakers powerful planning tools.
We undertake to increase the use of science and scientific evidence in policy making. We recognize that solutions to complex global challenges call for cross- and trans-disciplinary collaboration and a strong science-policy-society interface in order to build trust in science. We encourage the United Nations system to take an active role in forging closer links with national and multilateral science advisory bodies to optimally leverage science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome the establishment of the Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board.
We note with deep concern the existing disparities between developed and developing countries in terms of conditions, possibilities and capacities to produce new scientific and technological knowledge and to generate innovation.
We reaffirm that the creation, development and diffusion of innovations and new technologies and associated know-how, including the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, are powerful drivers of economic growth and sustainable development. We reiterate the need to accelerate the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed, and we note the importance of facilitating access to and sharing accessible and assistive technologies.
We reaffirm the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, in which it is recognized that it is essential that all women not only benefit from technology, but also participate in the process from the design to the application, monitoring and evaluation stages. We pledge to harness the potential of technology and innovation to improve women’s and girls’ lives and to close the development divide and the digital divide, including the gender digital divide, as well as address the risks and challenges emerging from the use of technologies. We commit to addressing persistent barriers to equal access for women and girls to science, technology and innovation.
We recognize the need to mobilize and scale up the means of implementation, including financing, for science, technology and innovation, especially in developing countries, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
We resolve to take action to enhance the ability of developing countries to benefit from science, technology and innovation. We commit to addressing the major structural impediments to accessing new and emerging technologies, including by scaling up the use of open science, affordable and open-source technology, research and development. We aim to increase funding for research and innovation related to the Sustainable Development Goals and build capacity in all regions to contribute to and benefit from this research.
We support calls for sharing technologies and skills to solve the basic health issues of water, sanitation and food security. We recognize the importance of the creation of a conducive environment that attracts and supports private investment, entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility, including an efficient, adequate, balanced and effective intellectual property framework, while encouraging access to science, technology and innovation by developing countries.
We call upon the United Nations system to support the efforts of developing countries to develop and strengthen their national science, technology and innovation ecosystems. To facilitate these efforts, we welcome the Secretary-General’s vision to work towards a UN 2.0 to increase the effectiveness of the Organization through enhancing capabilities in data analytics, digital transformation, strategic foresight, and results orientation.
PACT FOR THE FUTURE
Youth and Future Generations
4. Youth and Future Generations
We recognize that young persons will live with the consequences of our actions and our inaction. We welcome the important contributions of young persons and children as critical agents of change in promoting sustainable development, human rights and peace and security. We applaud their commitment and contribution to, inter alia, climate action, gender equality, social justice, humanitarian action, innovation, inter-generational justice, the promotion of culture and inclusion. We reaffirm the importance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and we also reaffirm that the 2030 Agenda remains our commitment to the children and youth of today, so that they may achieve their full human potential.
We recognize that generating decent work and quality employment for young persons is one of the biggest challenges that needs to be tackled. We therefore emphasize that investment in universal, accessible, quality and inclusive education, at all levels, and professional training, both formal and non-formal, is the most important investment that States can make to ensure the immediate and long-term development of youth.
We underline the importance of establishing in the national context robust social security systems as well as social protection floors that respond to the needs and rights of young persons and children, including all girls and young women. We also recognize that the well- being of young people is closely intertwined with the enjoyment of their right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including sexual and reproductive health.
We recognize the importance of meeting the needs and aspirations of all young persons, including those in vulnerable situations and those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.
107. We underline the importance of the active, meaningful and inclusive participation of youth in decision-making. We commit to strengthening meaningful youth engagement in policy making and decision-making processes at the local, national, regional and global levels. We note with concern the challenges and barriers, including sociocultural, financial, political, legal, digital and physical that prevent meaningful participation of youth in political and public affairs.
We commit to meaningful youth engagement in all United Nations inter-governmental bodies, and processes at the global, regional and national levels. We welcome the progress at the United Nations to promote the meaningful engagement of youth, including through the establishment of the United Nations Youth Office.
Building on this progress, we request that the Secretary-General lead the development of a global standard for meaningful youth engagement in processes across the United Nations system, in cooperation with Member States and youth and youth-led and youth-focused organizations. We also request the Secretary-General to develop an integrated approach to facilitate more meaningful youth engagement at all levels.
We request the Secretary-General to develop dedicated guidance and protocols on the protection of young persons, including those who engage with the United Nations and its inter-governmental bodies. We also request the Secretary-General to develop a Global Youth Investment platform to attract and direct financing of youth-related programming to strengthen existing United Nations funds that support youth and key United Nations youth initiatives.
We encourage all States to establish national youth consultative bodies with a mandate and the requisite resources to formally engage in national policy-making and decision-making processes and call upon the United Nations system to support this process at the national level, as relevant and appropriate. We also encourage States to establish a clear and effective monitoring mechanism to track progress in the establishment of the above-mentioned national youth consultative bodies and their engagement in national policy-making and decision-making processes, including regular reporting by Member States to the General Assembly.
We urge States to address legislative or policy barriers that directly or indirectly prevent young persons under the age of 30 from running for public leadership positions, recognizing that despite the size of the global youth population, young persons are disproportionately underrepresented in formal political structures, and young women even more so.
We call upon States, the United Nations, the private sector, donors and other stakeholders to provide flexible funding designed with the specific needs of youth organizations in mind, to provide opportunities for small-scale projects and initiatives, and innovative, risk-taking programmatic approaches, while prioritizing the building of organizational capacities to increase their financial sustainability and the impact of their work.
pact for the future
Transforming global governance
5. Transforming global governance
We commit to transforming global governance and reinvigorating the multilateral system to allow us to deliver on this Pact for the Future. We will work together to ensure that the multilateral system is better equipped to tackle the challenges, and seize the opportunities, of today and tomorrow. We commit to a vision of a multilateral system that is more effective and capable of delivering on its promises; just and representative; inclusive to allow for a diverse range of actors beyond States, while maintaining the intergovernmental character of the United Nations; and networked, to ensure that the multilateral system can draw together existing institutional capacities and overcome fragmentation.
We will continue our work to revitalize the work of the General Assembly, and we reaffirm the central position of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations. We commit to examining whether the format, name and mandate of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly, including discussions on agenda alignment, remain fit for purpose, and explore further options for strengthening its work.
We stress the need for the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General and other executive heads to be guided by the principles of transparency and inclusiveness. We will continue our efforts to enhance ways in which the General Assembly can further contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security and enhance its coordination with the Security Council, with full respect to existing mandates.
We commit to strengthening the work of the Economic and Social Council as a principal organ for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on issues of economic and social development, with the aim of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We will work to improve the efforts of the Council to identify and address new and emerging issues and to respond proactively.
We commit to facilitating more structured and inclusive engagement of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, together with major groups, the private sector, youth, local governments and other relevant stakeholders and regional organizations, in the activities of the Council and its functional and regional commissions. We will take steps towards granting formal status and a stronger mandate to the Council’s youth forum to enhance youth engagement throughout the Council’s cycle
We call for closer cooperation between the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council, and between the Economic and Social Council and the Peace-building Commission, to help to sustaining peace, emphasizing a comprehensive approach and addressing sustainable development root causes as a source of instability and threat to peace and security.
We reiterate our commitment to further strengthening gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and their human rights at the United Nations. We therefore resolve to revitalize the Commission on the Status of Women, including to promote the effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, as well as to address situations of violations of women’s and girls’ rights, including gross and systematic violations, and to make recommendations thereon.
We affirm our commitment to strengthening the Peace-building Commission to bring a strategic approach and coherence to international peace-building efforts. We recognize the Commission’s role in advising and acting as a bridge to United Nations bodies and facilitating the inclusion of perspectives on peace-building of multiple stakeholders, including international financial institutions. We encourage the Commission to enhance cooperation with regional and sub-regional organizations.
We reaffirm the role of the Peace-building Commission in providing peace-building and sustaining peace support to countries through political accompaniment and advocacy to countries affected by conflict, with their consent. We recognize that the Commission is uniquely placed at the intersection of peace, security, development and human rights and strongly rooted in national ownership. We also recognize the important role that the Commission can play in identifying the root causes of conflicts and in strengthening the resilience of societies. We commit to supporting the Commission to become a platform for sharing good practices on conflict prevention among Member States and for mobilizing resources for their implementation. We note the critical role of the Commission in supporting countries during and after the transition of a peace operation, in cooperation with the Security Council.
We reaffirm that cooperation between the United Nations and regional, sub-regional and other organizations is critical to maintaining international peace and security, promoting and protecting human rights, and implementing the sustainable development agenda. We emphasize that regional frameworks and organizations, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter, are critical building blocks for addressing global and regional challenges, for trust-building and transparency and for building and strengthening regional security architectures.
On the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the thirtieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, we commit to redoubling our efforts in fulfilling our duties to promote and protect human rights and to implement the provisions enshrined in both documents.
We resolve to strengthen the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human social to enable the Office to effectively carry out its mandate to respond to the broad range of human rights challenges facing the international community.
We also resolve to further strengthen the United Nations human rights system with the aim of ensuring effective enjoyment by all of all human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the right to development. We reaffirm that the international community must treat all human rights in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis.
We commit to improving the international response to complex global shocks of significant scale and severity, guided by the principles of equity, solidarity and partnership.
We therefore encourage the Secretary-General to develop a set of protocols and convene and ope-rationalize an Emergency Platform in the event of such a shock that has an impact on multiple regions of the world and requires a coherent, coordinated and multidimensional response. We note that an Emergency Platform would not be a standing institution or body.
We emphasize that the decision to convene an Emergency Platform in response to a complex global shock and the work of an Emergency Platform must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States. We also emphasize that the decision to convene an Emergency Platform would support and complement the response of United Nations principal organs mandated to respond to crises, and that the convening of an Emergency Platform would not affect the mandated role of any intergovernmental body
We welcome the development of measures of progress on sustainable development that complement and thus go beyond gross domestic product. These measures should recognize what matters to people, the planet and the future. We recognize this as a critical step in deepening and making effective our commitment to sustainability in all its dimensions, fighting inequality and promoting resilience in an era defined by more frequent and intense shocks.
We commit to expanding the basis on which we determine country needs and access to concessional development finance to incorporate measures of vulnerability, such as a multidimensional vulnerability index.
We believe that the international financial architecture urgently needs to be modernized and strengthened to better respond to the challenges of our time and to reflect the reality of today’s world. We believe that recent events, in particular the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, have exposed the weaknesses of the global financial system, and the inequities it perpetuates, in responding to shocks. We agree that reform of the international financial architecture is necessary both to provide greater stability and access to finance, and to offer more complete, equitable and sustainable solutions to future challenges.
We underline the role of the United Nations in global economic governance, in full respect of existing governance mechanisms and mandates independent of the United Nations that preside over specific organizations and rules.
We reiterate the need to broaden and strengthen the voice and participation of developing countries in international economic decision-making, norm-setting and global economic governance. We also recommit to open and transparent, gender-balanced and merit-based leadership selection in international institutions.
We recognize the role of the multilateral development banks in providing affordable access to long-term capital and accelerating investment in the Sustainable Development Goals. We encourage multilateral development banks to go further in leveraging their capital bases and we call upon on the boards of the banks to pursue general capital increases. We encourage the banks to promote better terms, including longer tenor on loans, increased lending in local currency, and to incorporate measures of vulnerability into their concessional frameworks. We support governance reforms at the international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to enhance representation of developing countries and strengthen trust among their members. We call upon the banks to develop and publish impact reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals, and to build internal incentives tied to maximizing impact on the Goals.
We acknowledge that high debt levels and financing costs in developing countries are unsustainable and hinder their progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda. We recognize the need to strengthen the global debt architecture to provide timely, predictable and fair debt restructuring and debt relief, when required. We therefore encourage the undertaking of a comprehensive review of the sovereign debt architecture, with a view to making concrete recommendations for reform to the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025. We recommend that such a review should include an update of the principles of responsible borrowing and lending, a review of existing tools for debt sustainability analysis, and proposed mechanisms to strengthen information-sharing and transparency among all creditors and borrowers. We acknowledge that state-contingent debt instruments could further strengthen borrower resilience and encourage consideration of their use where appropriate, with a view to providing breathing room to countries hit by shocks.
We will work together to improve the global financial safety net in a world prone to systemic shocks. We welcome ongoing efforts to re-channel Special Drawing Rights to countries most in need, while respecting relevant legal frameworks and preserving the reserve asset character of Special Drawing Rights. We encourage the development of proposals for standing instruments to accelerate the issuance and the re-allocation of Special Drawing Rights in response to global crises. We call for access to liquidity finance based on need and vulnerability, while respecting debt sustainability.
We call for consistent regulation of bank and non-bank entities in the financial sector, for mandatory sustainability reporting for large corporations, and for strengthening sustainability ratings to make these consistent, credible and impact. We look forward to the intergovernmental discussions on a framework convention on international tax cooperation in order to strengthen international tax cooperation and make it fully inclusive and more effective.
We welcome the Secretary-General’s decision to convene a biennial summit at the level of Heads of State and Government between the members of the Group of 20 and the members of the Economic and Social Council, the Secretary-General and the heads of the international financial institutions, in order to achieve progress in building a stronger and fairer international financial architecture.
We will foster the peaceful and sustainable uses of outer space for the benefit of all. We recognize that outer space is a rapidly changing environment and that there is an urgent need to increase international cooperation to harness the potential of space as a major driver of the Sustainable Development Goals.
We are concerned that the increased number of objects in outer space will jeopardize long-term sustainability, compromising our ability to leverage space for sustainable development on Earth for present and future generations, and recognize the need for urgent action to enhance cooperation and coordination.
We commit to urgently developing frameworks for international cooperation in the areas of space traffic management, space debris removal, and space resource activities, including coordination of missions and exchange of data and findings from the exploration, exploitation and utilization of the Moon and other celestial bodies, through the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and in consultation with relevant bodies of the United Nations system.
We resolve to broaden space cooperation to enable inclusive, pragmatic and future-proof decision-making on space sustainability and the use of space technologies to sustain life on Earth.