REFORMS CAN HELP UN REMAIN CENTRAL FIGURE IN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE, SAYS LIECHTENSTEIN

28 September - Highlighting the primacy of the United Nations amid a growing field of groupings, such as the Group of 20 (G20) developed and emerging powers and others that discuss global issues, the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein today called on Member States to reform the world body so that it can remain the central forum for finding effective solutions to today's challenges.

“We welcome the work of the G20 and other groupings that seek to contribute to global solutions,” Aurelia Frick said during the high-level debate of the General Assembly. “At the same time, they can only deal with a limited number of issues.

“And more importantly, they can never be a substitute for genuine multilateralism, which must continue to take place inside the United Nations.”

While she voiced support for the efforts of groups such as the G20 in discussing matters that affect the global economic and financial architecture, she added that their work should be better integrated with the UN system.

Ms. Frick also stressed the need to safeguard the central place of the UN, while adding that this can only be done by using it to find effective solutions to problems such as climate change, disarmament and other areas “where results have been insufficient.

“If we continue to underachieve in the UN framework, we must not be surprised if solutions are sought elsewhere,” she remarked.

“Today, we must ask ourselves: Is the UN still at the centre of global governance? How does it relate to a number of other rising actors in the ever more crowded field of international relations?”

The official called for reform of the Security Council, including its composition and working methods, as well as strengthening of the UN Secretariat, particularly with regard to management issues.

“The challenges in global governance are numerous and interlinked,” said Ms. Frick. “The governance architecture reflected in the UN Charter gives us the possibility to address them. It is up to us to make the necessary political investments to make this system work for our peoples.”

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss has made reinstating the UN at the centre of global governance a key theme of the 192-member body's current session.

In an address to the opening of the Assembly's high-level debate last week, he warned against the danger of the UN becoming marginalized as other actors emerge on the international scene. He also said that for the UN to fulfil its role at the centre of global governance, it must be made stronger, more open and more inclusive.