UN Secretary-General Briefs Member States on Progress on Our Common Agenda

UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Dennis Francis convened an informal consultation to hear an update from UN Secretary-General António Guterres on progress towards Our Common Agenda (OCA). Noting “a sense of common purpose” around OCA, the Secretary-General highlighted the “once-in-a-generation” Summit of the Future in 2024 as an important opportunity to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Opening the meeting, the UNGA President emphasized that a reformed, inclusive, and efficiently functioning UN-led multilateral system requires a foundation of trust, reinforced global cooperation, and genuine solidarity, and “implore[d] Member States to engage throughout this year to craft a bold and pragmatic Pact for the Future.” He said the sustainability transformation needs transformative initiatives, welcoming work on: the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI); the Beyond GDP metric; the Declaration on Future Generations; and the Global Digital Compact.

Briefing Member States on progress under OCA, the Secretary-General said he was encouraged by the discussions during the SDG Summit, the Climate Ambition Summit, and other events of the UNGA High-level Week, noting that the common themes that emerged are the themes of OCA. These include the need for reform of global governance institutions, “concern about the state of the planet and the climate we are leaving to young people and future generations,” and the need for guidelines and guardrails for new technologies.

Guterrez drew attention to the UNGA’s definition of the scope of the Summit of the Future and welcomed the ministerial engagement around some of OCA’s major proposals, such as the New Agenda for Peace, reform of the global financial architecture, and the Global Digital Compact.

Noting that many ideas are already being implemented under existing mandates, the Secretary-General outlined four areas of progress:

New social contract anchored in human rights and the SDGs: Enabled by the High Impact Initiatives identified at the SDG Summit, he said the UN is supporting Member States in their efforts to restore trust by increasing the capacity of the public sector, creating decent jobs in the green and digital economies, eliminating violence against women and girls, developing common digital infrastructures, and promoting human rights and strong and resilient institutions.
Responsibilities to young people and future generations: Guterrez indicated the new Youth Office should be fully staffed and operational by the end of 2023.
Transforming global governance so that its mechanisms meet today’s needs: The Secretary-General said discussions are underway on strengthening global governance on health, the environment, outer space, and digital cooperation, among other areas. He also indicated that proposals for international financial architecture reform will be taken forward at the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28), and the Summit of the Future.
Adapting the UN to a new era: Citing “the quintet of change” outlined in his policy brief on ‘UN 2.0,’ Guterrez said his new Scientific Advisory Board connects scientists and their networks with UN leaders, a “UN Futures Lab will leverage long-term foresight across the system,” and engagement with stakeholders from civil society, parliamentarians, and the private sector is increasing. The Secretary-General indicated that “in the coming days,” he will launch his Advisory Board on Local and Regional Governments and appoint a High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence “later this month.” The Advisory Boards’ recommendations on governance can be expected by the end of 2023.

The Secretary-General’s written update provides more details on each of these areas.

Describing the next year of preparations for the Summit of the Future as “critical,” the Secretary-General said he will fully support the co-facilitators, to be appointed by the UNGA President. He said engagement around the 2024 Summit of the Future will draw on the activities and advocacy around the SDG Summit, the OCA policy brief series, and the report of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB).

The UNGA consultation on OCA took place on 4 October 2023. [Publication: Our Common Agenda: What Have We Achieved So Far?] [OCA Implementation] [UN News Story] [UNGA President’s Letter Dated 26 September 2023]