Chapeau

We, the Heads of State and Government, representing the people of the world, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters to take action to safeguard the future for present and coming generations. We are at a moment of acute global peril. Across our world, people are suffering from the effects of poverty, hunger, inequality, armed conflicts, violence, displacement, terrorism, climate change, disease, and the adverse impacts of technology. Humanity faces a range of potentially catastrophic and existential risks. We are also at a moment of opportunity, where advances in knowledge and technology, properly managed, could deliver a better future for all.

The challenges we face far exceed the capacity of any single State to manage alone. Left unaddressed, the risks threaten the well-being of present and future generations and then the welfare of our planet, while the advances may benefit only a few. We recognize that challenges such as these can only be addressed through strong and sustained international cooperation.

To enhance our cooperation, we need a multilateral system that is fit for the future, ready to address the political, economic, environmental and technological changes in the world, and with the agility to adapt to an uncertain future. We know that multilateral institutions – especially the Security Council and the international financial architecture – have struggled to address the scale of the challenges they face and live up to the world’s expectations of them. Too often, international commitments that are made, remain unfulfilled.

We believe there is a path to a better future for all of humanity. We are committed to meaningful changes to global governance to address new and emerging challenges. We commit to ensuring the whole world – especially the most vulnerable – is ready for the vastly more complex challenges to come. We also commit to delivering on our existing commitments. We will re-earn the trust of our people and each other, which is a vital precondition for effective international cooperation.

Today, we pledge a new beginning in international cooperation with a new approach. We will cooperate to manage risks and harness opportunities for the benefit of all, guided by the principles of trust, equity, solidarity, and universality. We will collectively strive for a world that is safer, more peaceful, more just, more equal, more inclusive, more sustainable, and more prosperous.

To achieve this, we reaffirm our commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and international law. We also reaffirm that the three pillars of the United Nations – development, peace and security, and human rights – are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. We further reaffirm that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.

Every commitment in this Pact is guided by principles of human rights and gender equality and will contribute to their fulfilment. On the occasion of its seventy-fifth anniversary, we reaffirm the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined therein. This anniversary offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on achievements, best practices and challenges with regard to the full realization of all human rights for all.

We recognize the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring all human rights, including the right to development, and fundamental freedoms of everyone. We recognize that human rights are at the heart of peaceful, just and inclusive societies and need to be promoted and protected for the sake of current and future generations. We commit to stepping up our efforts to fight against racism, all forms of discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

Human rights can never be fully upheld unless they are also enjoyed by all women and girls, and conflicts will not be resolved, and sustainable development will not be attained, without the full, equal and meaningful participation of women at all levels. We reaffirm our commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and accelerating action to achieve gender equality, women’s participation and the empowerment of women and girls in all domains and to eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls.

We reaffirm our declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations and we commit to accelerating our pursuit of the 12 commitments contained therein, including through the measures outlined in this Pact. We further reaffirm the importance of the multilateral system, with the United Nations at its centre.

We recognize that the multilateral system must keep pace with a changing world. To that end, we commit to concrete steps to reinvigorate this system, fill critical gaps in global governance, and accelerate efforts to keep our past promises and agreements. Through this Pact for the Future, we commit to building a multilateral system that delivers for everyone, everywhere. We commit to concrete action in five broad areas, as follows:

1. Sustainable development and financing for development

2. International peace and security

3. Science, technology innovation and digital cooperation

4. Youth and future generations

5. Transforming global governance

Follow-up

We recognize that the well-being of current and future generations and the sustainability of our planet rests on our willingness to make these changes and to continue to ensure that the multilateral system, with the United Nations at its centre, is fit for purpose. We encourage stakeholders to participate and engage in the implementation of the Pact for the Future. We will review progress on the implementation of the commitments in this Pact by the end of the eightieth session, and take further necessary steps to live up to the promises we have made today.