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Summit of the Future: reshaping global governance and international cooperation

Promoting solutions, shaping conversations and strategically engaging with key stakeholders.

At the conclusion of the Summit of the Future the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Pact for the Future which offers a framework for Member States to enhance international cooperation and the multilateral system. This ambitious Pact outlines key actions in several broad areas: sustainable development and financing for development; international peace and security; science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation; youth and future generations; and transforming global governance. The Summit of the Future also provided a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations annexed to the Pact. 

In advance of this critical event UNU-CPR developed and promoted solutions that Member States could adopt to address key challenges; identified and worked with a diverse community of thought leaders to shape conversations in the public space; and created opportunities for strategic engagement both within and outside of UN communities.

Our activities – consolidated on our "Contributing to the Summit of the Future" information hub – included: 

  • Supporting the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB) and contributing to the HLAB’s advisory report, A Breakthrough for People and Planet, which identified concrete, actionable recommendations that support a radical shift in international cooperation for the resolution of shared global challenges and the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 
  • A series of detailed policy briefs and technical notes that promoted and further developed ideas advanced in the HLAB report. Prepared for the UN and Member States, the briefs and technical notes covered AI and data governance, peacebuilding, elevating the environment in the multilateral system and "human proofing" the global governance system.
  • A critical examination of the Global South’s proposals for international financial architecture reform helped prioritize political commitments in upcoming international summits – including the Summit of the Future.
  • A full range of events and outreach activities, including sub-national, national and regional dialogues on the solutions put forward in the HLAB advisory report. UNU-CPR also organized, co-organized and contributed to global fora covering a range of issues relevant to the Summit - from international financial reform to data governance and peace and security - including in Peru, Ethiopia, China and Cairo.
  • On the eve of the Summit of the Future, UNU-CPR events included a discussion, co-organized with the Carnegie Council and the co-facilitators of the Global Digital Compact, on the impacts of AI on the multilateral system; and an event with the President of the General Assembly to launch "Assembly for Peace", a digital handbook on the General Assembly's past practice on peace and security - the Pact for the Future supports a much stronger role for the General Assembly in international peace efforts.           

For more information visit the "Contributing to the Summit of the Future" information hub.