UN Member States are beginning negotiations on a declaration for the UN’s 75th anniversary. In a food-for-thought paper, the co-facilitators suggest five possible elements of the declaration, to be discussed during informal consultations on 21 February 2020.

Plans to issue a declaration were agreed in June 2019. The declaration is meant to be “concise, substantive, forward-looking and unifying” and to reflect Member States’ commitment to multilateralism, the UN and “their shared vision for a common future.”

On 6 January 2020, the UNGA President announced the appointment of the Permanent Representative of Qatar, Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, and the Permanent Representative of Sweden, Anna-Karin Eneström, as co-facilitators for the intergovernmental negotiations on the declaration to be adopted at the commemoration event, which will convene on 21 September 2020.

In a letter of 7 February 2020, the co-facilitators wrote to UN Member States to announce the first informal consultations on the document. They suggest discussion of five possible elements:

• Acknowledging achievements: What are the UN’s main contributions to its three pillars of work – development, human rights, and peace and security?
• Looking ahead: What measures are needed over the next 25 years to strengthen multilateralism and reinvigorate global governance?
• Responding to major global challenges: What are today’s most fundamental global challenges? How is the UN standing up to new challenges?
• Delivering on commitments: How can the UN better deliver on its purposes and principles?
• Building consensus and mobilizing for change: How can the Decade of Action advance implementation of the 2030 Agenda and leave no one behind? How can the UN maximize its use of resources and partner with diverse actors? How can the UN strengthen the rights, empowerment and participation of women and youth?

The first informal consultation will convene on 21 February 2020 at UN Headquarters in New York, US. The meeting will be open to Member States and permanent observers.

The UNGA has agreed that negotiations on the declaration will conclude by June 2020, and the declaration is to be adopted by consensus. [Letter from co-facilitators]