- UN Summit of the Future’s focus on global issues seems overshadowed by inaction on international peace and security
By Shazia Anwer Cheema
The UN General Assembly ‘Summit of the Future’ will start on September 22 so we are less than a month away from this event that will adopt the ‘Pact for the Future’, demanding 58 non-binding actions from member states. These actions are considered “an important kit for the survival of humankind”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres believes the world is going through a deep global transformation and is confronting a growing range of man-made and natural catastrophes and existential risks, and collective actions are needed for a world that is safe, sustainable, peaceful, inclusive, just, equal, orderly and resilient. Guterres suggested the Summit in line with a UNGA annual meeting.
Strangely, the global media is only talking about SDGs, financing for goals and the Climate Change impact while someone can hardly find discussion about actions related to ‘International Peace and Security’. I fear that actions related to international peace and security are purposefully being taken away from discussions because global powers, predominantly the Western world, are responsible for threats indicated in the list of ‘Pact for the Future’.
Action # 14 demands the protection of all civilians in armed conflict. What is happening in Palestine is contrary to what is being demanded in the action list. The latest figures shared by the Palestine Health Authority claim that 41,047 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. In the Ukraine conflict, 35,160 civilian casualties have been reported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Action # 15 demands ensuring people affected by humanitarian emergencies receive the support they need. However, in Gaza hospitals have been bombed to ashes, and international humanitarian support is denied to Palestinians.
Action # 17 demands fulfillment of the commitment to comply with the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in any case. On 19 July 2024, ICJ declared Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, unlawful, along with the associated settlement regime, annexation and use of natural resources. The ICJ mandated Israel to end its occupation, dismantle its settlements, provide full reparations to Palestinian victims, and facilitate the return of displaced people. Meanwhile International Criminal Court (ICC) held the Israeli PM as well as the Hamas leadership responsible for crimes against humanity, and sought their arrest warrants for a trial against them. The Global North gives a damn to the decisions of ICJ and ICC and Netanyahu is traveling to Western countries without any fear of being arrested.
Actions # 28 and 29 demand of member states to address the potential risks and seize the opportunities associated with new and emerging technologies and to address the potential risks posed by the misuse of digital technologies, including information and communication technologies and AI. Practically, Global North is providing social media platforms being used for digital terrorism against countries, groups and individuals and also promoting AI globally.
I appreciate the initiative of the UN Secretary General who has also been proactive in protecting innocent civilians in Palestine and Ukraine. His idea of the ‘Summit of the Future’ is useful but impractical because those who engineer threats to humanity are beyond questioning and only non-binding resolutions can be passed against them because many of them are on P-5 list. Therefore, UN member states, UN agencies, NGOs, civil society organisations, academic institutions and the private sector can support the Summit that aims to forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like, and what can we do today to secure it. But practically this Summit would neither bring peace to Palestine, Indian Occupied Kashmir or Ukraine nor will it control social media platforms operating from Global North that are targeting the developing world and building false narratives against them.
The writer is a PhD scholar of Semiotics and Philosophy of Communication at Charles University Prague. She can be reached at shaziaanwer@yahoo.com and tweets @ShaziaAnwerCh
Note: The above article was initially published by The Express Tribune on August 31, 2024.
