The United Nations stresses the importance of international pluralism

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, yesterday denounced the absence of multilateral solutions to international challenges, as he opened a virtual summit on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the international organization.
“Nobody wants a world government, but we must work together to improve global governance,” Guterres said on the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, before world leaders spoke online.
“In an interconnected world, we need a plurality in which the United Nations family, international financial institutions, regional organizations, trade blocs and others work closely and more effectively,” he added.
“We also need an inclusive pluralism that depends on civil society, cities, companies, local authorities and the youth,” he added.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron considered that the United Nations “is our common home, in a state of chaos, similar to our world today,” in a speech yesterday on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the organization, stressing that “action” against the Covid-19 epidemic must take place “within the framework of this. The Foundation
, Macron added, “Its foundations are eroding, and its walls are crumbling sometimes as a result of the strikes of those who built it themselves,” without naming countries, but indirectly targeting the United States under Donald Trump’s administration, which distanced itself three years ago from the United Nations and other international organizations.
Macron said, “Red lines that we thought could not be broken have been lifted: a war of annexation, the use of chemical weapons, mass internment with impunity.” Rights that we thought were acquired are violated, and our international system, which has become a prisoner of our conflicts, is no longer able to impose sanctions for these violations. “
“At a time when the epidemic fuels fear of regression and the story of collective impotence, I want to say something very clearly: in the face of the health emergency, the climate challenge, and the decline of rights, we must, now and here, act.”
And he stressed that this is done “with those who want, and with those who can, while exploiting all possible spaces for cooperation,” without adding details.
Macron also stressed, “On my part, I believe in the multiplicity of parties that do more than say,” referring to the achievements made in facing the epidemic in Europe, Africa and the World Health Organization.
The summit comes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has raised new questions about global cooperation.
About 180 leaders were invited to deliver speeches by video link of up to three minutes only. Today the annual General Assembly opens, where leaders are scheduled to deliver longer speeches.
This year New York lacks the usual buzz of the annual diplomatic event in late September, when leaders from around the world and their delegations flock to the city.
And instead of the diplomatic festival, each country will be allowed to send one diplomat from its UN mission to sit in the General Assembly hall to listen to recorded speeches.
This coincides with the re-introduction of US President Donald Trump’s administration of sanctions on Iran that Washington says are within the “authority” of the United Nations, a position that almost all other countries oppose.