The High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB), appointed by the UN Secretary-General in 2022 pursuant to Our Common Agenda, has published a report that outlines “an ambitious plan to strengthen the multilateral system,” so it can better address current and future challenges, including climate change, rising inequalities, the lack of finance for sustainable development, and growing threats to democracy and stability.

The HLAB consists of twelve eminent persons and is co-chaired by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, and Stefan Löfven, former Prime Minister of Sweden. Informed by a global public consultation, its recommendations build on inputs from a wide range of stakeholders, including UN Member States, civil society, academia, youth, the private sector, and the UN system. 

Titled, ‘A Breakthrough for People and Planet: Effective and Inclusive Global Governance for Today and the Future,’ the report offers recommendations “to strengthen the global architecture for peace, security and finance, deliver just transitions for climate and digitalisation, and ensure more equity and fairness in global decision-making.” It makes a case for a better networked, more inclusive, and more effective multilateral architecture that places gender equality at its core.

Multilateralism can work, but it must work better and faster.

— Stefan Löfven, HLAB’s Co-Chair

The report calls for six transformational shifts:

• Rebuilding trust in multilateralism through inclusion and accountability; 
• Regaining balance with nature and providing clean energy for all;
• Ensuring abundant and sustainable finance that delivers for all; 
• Supporting a just digital transition that unlocks the value of data and protects against digital harms; 
• Empowering effective, equitable collective security arrangements; and 
• Managing current and emerging transnational risks.    

“Multilateralism can work, but it must work better and faster,” said Löfven at the report’s launch. “Our people-centred recommendations aim to strengthen international cooperation and support an accelerated implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement [on climate change],” he explained.

“I am confident that the report provides the framework that the UN, Member States, and others need to strengthen international cooperation for current and future generations,” said Johnson Sirleaf. 

The recommendations contained in the HLAB’s report will feed into ongoing deliberations at the UN in preparation for the Summit of the Future in 2024, where countries “will consider ways to lay the foundations for more effective global cooperation.” [Publication: A Breakthrough for People and Planet: Effective and Inclusive Global Governance for Today and the Future] [Interactive Report] [HLAB Press Release] [UN News Story] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Moving Our Common Agenda from Ideas to Action]