Secretary-General on Implementation of the Pact for the Future

24 April 2026

New York UN

Secretary-General's remarks to the Informal Meeting of the General Assembly Plenary on the Implementation of the Pact for the Future

Statements | António Guterres, Secretary-General

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I am grateful to the President of the General Assembly for convening today’s discussion, in the context of several informal meetings she is organizing on the implementation of the Pact for the Future.

And it comes amid a series of monthly briefings on the UN80 work packages.

Today we focus on how these two initiatives fit together and reinforce one another.

At their core, both are about restoring trust — through concrete action, meaningful reform, and results that people can see, feel, and believe in.

As we all know far too well, trust is in dangerously short supply around the world.

We see sharp fragmentation and deep polarization.

Conflicts causing horrific levels of death and destruction.

Communities deprived of resources for development and resilience.

Efforts to defer climate action and deny climate justice.

And a frenetic race to build new technologies without guardrails.

The Pact for the Future is the world’s pledge to tackle such shared challenges together, and it calls for a more inclusive, effective, and fit-for-purpose multilateral system to follow through.

The UN80 Initiative is about equipping ourselves with the right tools to do the job — and making our Organization more coherent, more effective, and more prepared to deliver on the vision set by Member States.

Already we are making significant progress in realizing the Pact’s commitments.

This includes advancing global efforts on the governance of artificial intelligence with the launch of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance;

Redefining measures of progress beyond GDP with support from the High-Level Expert Group;

Addressing global debt distress, enhancing global tax cooperation, and launching the borrowers’ platform, as outlined in the Sevilla Commitment, which also reaffirmed the need to reform the global financial architecture;

And establishing systematic links with international financial institutions through the biennial summit — to help align global financing with the 2030 Agenda and ensure a financial system that is more inclusive, responsive, and accessible to developing countries.

The Pact also calls for strengthening our approach to peace and security through the New Agenda for Peace, including the soon-to-be-released review of UN peace operations — and it was the driving force behind my report last year on how rising global military expenditure is slowing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Pact for the Future also includes further steps promoting youth engagement by developing core principles for their meaningful participation;

Enhancing our capabilities in innovation, data, and digital transformation to build the UN of the future;

And reinforcing human rights coordination, including deeper engagement with local authorities, civil society, academia, and other partners.

All this work is supported by a robust system of transparency and accountability — including a dedicated tracking mechanism and public dashboard — to monitor progress, define clear milestones, and ensure disciplined implementation.

Excellencies,

The Pact for the Future and UN80 are interconnecting components of a single strategy of renewal.

Together, they are designed to renew the vision and machinery of multilateralism, so the UN can further deliver with credibility and impact today and for generations to come.

I want to highlight five crucial points of convergence:

First, the Pact and UN80 both seek to strengthen all three pillars of the UN’s mandate and the connections between them.

On peace and security, both emphasize the need for prevention and resilience.

The Pact is rooted in the idea that the international system must get ahead of risk, whether in conflict, climate, inequality, or technological disruption.

UN80 carries that logic into institutional reform, moving from splintered responses to more seamless, joined-up, and preventive approaches.

On sustainable development, both recognize the need to accelerate efforts in the final stretch to 2030.

The Pact is explicitly designed to turbocharge the SDGs.

UN80 recognizes that development delivery requires not just more commitment and more finance, but also a more joined-up UN development system, with stronger country-level support, closer regional coordination, better access to expertise, less duplication, and appropriate structural adjustments.

Both also seek to advance a more effective, principled, and sustainable humanitarian system.

The Pact defines a more ambitious vision for how the international community responds to human suffering.

UN80 aims to ensure the UN humanitarian system is faster, leaner, and more accountable to the people it serves — with a New Humanitarian Compact spelling out tangible ways to be more coordinated, more data-informed, more effective and cost-effective, with enhanced common services including supply chains; and better connected to long-term resilience and recovery.

On human rights, both renew the commitment to place human rights at the centre of prevention, trust-building, and sustainable peace.

The Pact reaffirms that human rights is a cross-cutting foundation for all of our work and underscores the need to protect civic space, strengthen accountability, and ensure marginalized groups can participate meaningfully in decision-making.

UN80 carries this forward by seeking to better integrate human rights across the UN’s work, including through the newly established Human Rights Group under the leadership of the Human Rights High Commissioner.

The second point of convergence is that both are anchored in a shared commitment to future-oriented, inclusive multilateralism that is accountable to the next generation.

The Pact explicitly brings the interests of future generations into today’s decision-making — through the Declaration on Future Generations — and recognizes that current governance structures must evolve to address long-term risks.

UN80 calls on the Organization to think and act with a longer time horizon: to be more agile, more future-ready, and more connected to youth, civil society and other stakeholders.

Third, both are fully aligned on digital transformation, data, and responsible innovation.

The Pact defines digital governance as a multilateral priority.

The Global Digital Compact, as an annex to the Pact, recognizes that digital cooperation is now vital to the future of multilateralism.

UN80 translates this political recognition into organizational change, with a joint Technology Accelerator Platform, shared digital infrastructure, and a UN System Data Commons so our public data and statistics can connect across entities and pillars for stronger insights — all of this grounded in our UN 2.0 agenda.

Fourth, both speak to the urgent need for better financing and value for money.

The Pact commits to mobilizing far more public and private resources for sustainable development, including reforming international financial institutions, improving debt sustainability, and closing financing gaps.

UN80 has a clear focus on building the organizational and financing model needed to sustain that ambition level by pushing for pooled and core funding, shared services, and harmonized support structures.

The fifth point of convergence is how both recognize that country level is where impact happens — and where credibility is won or lost.

The Pact is ultimately a promise to “we the peoples” in countries and communities around the world.

UN80 strongly emphasizes better-coordinated and better-supported UN presences and capacities on the ground.

That means Resident Coordinators with clearer authority, country teams that operate as one, and systems that reduce duplication and transaction costs and boost expertise.

Excellencies,

Multilateralism must do more than inspire and make promises.

It must deliver results — because results build trust.

Trust that multilateral action can deliver solutions at scale and speed.

Trust that nations can come together and act with common purpose.

And trust we together can make a real difference in the lives of people.

Let us do our part to build this trust — for a stronger United Nations and a better future for all.

The Pact for the Future and UN80 represent two pillars of a shared vision and strategy for achieving these objectives.  Vision and strategy based on the Charter, and in respect of the balance between the three pillars.

Thank you.

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