Remarks by President Ramaphosa at the Summit of the Future Plenary Session

22 September 2024

President, of the General Assembly,
Secretary-General,
Excellencies,

We meet at a time when the world faces many challenges and threats.

Wars, conflict, and the spectre of emerging conflicts are ever-persistent features of our time. 

Climate change is an existential threat. It is reversing economic growth and development gains in the Global North and Global South alike. 

The COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc across our world was one of the worst zoonotic disease outbreaks, but it was not the first, nor will it be the last. 

It was a stark illustration of our extreme vulnerability to pandemics and other global public health emergencies.

The wound of inequality cuts deep, exacerbating poverty, unemployment, deprivation and destitution.

These challenges transcend borders. They affect everyone. 

Through this Summit of the Future, we must therefore forge global consensus on the causes of these challenges.

We must agree on actions to confront and overcome the threats we all face.

This Summit of the Future must bridge the development divide.

It must provide practical solutions to the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

The Pact for the Future is an opportunity to change and reinvigorate the multilateral system so that it is fit for purpose to address the challenges that the world faces.

It is an opportunity to make good on our promises to reform the global governance architecture, including international financial institutions and the United Nations Security Council. 

Seventy years since its founding, the structure of the UNSC remains largely unchanged. 

It is clearly no longer fit and adequate to address our modern-day challenges.

We live in a world where the threats and risks to international peace and security are multi-faceted, complex and ever evolving.

Placing the fate of the world’s security in the hands of a select few when it is the vast majority who bear the brunt of these threats is unjust, unfair and unsustainable. 

The UN Security Council as it is currently structured does not represent all and does not consider the voices and viewpoints of all the countries of the world.,

We need to make these institutions more representative of the current membership of the United Nations.

We need to make them more inclusive of the diversity of views on this planet.

We agree with the UN Secretary-General that the Summit of the Future is a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to forge global consensus and make progress on priorities such as the Sustainable Development Goals. 

We must reflect on the effectiveness of the United Nations.

We need to ensure that the UN is able to address contemporary and future challenges, both the known and anticipated, and to build resilience for the unknown. 

This will ensure that the organisation remains relevant for future generations.

For African countries, the Summit must focus on global action in support of the continent’s developmental agenda, Agenda 2063. It embodies the aspirations of the African people and clearly articulates the type of Africa that Africans want. 

To be meaningful, this Summit of the Future should reinforce the work towards ending poverty and realising the fundamental right to development. 

This summit must accelerate our collective efforts to advance development, peace and security, and human rights.

South Africa believes that the Pact Of the Future that is before us builds on existing commitments in line with the UN 2030 Agenda and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

These are complemented in the Pact by new commitments and actions. 

A key element of the Pact of the Future is working towards a New Agenda for Peace.

This must involve strengthening multilateral action for sustained peace. 

The United Nations was created to save future generations from the scourge of war. 

Yet, armed conflict persists. More and more civilians continue to die. Women and children in particular continue to be adversely affected by conflict. 

There must be a reinforced focus on mediation and the political settlements of disputes.

We must pursue the attainment of just and sustainable peace based on international law.

The Summit of the Future should encourage us to do things differently.

We must make a positive impact on the lives of the people of this planet.

We must transform international systems of power, governance, finance, debt, trade and technology so that they work for all countries.

No one must be left out. No one must be left behind. 

The Pact for the Future must be inclusive. It must be a global commitment that represents the views, concerns and interests of the Global South. It must build on existing obligations.

South Africa welcomes the extensive consultation that has taken place to prepare for the Summit. 

We are called upon to reflect on our common challenges, and in doing so, ensure that the views of all sectors of society, including women and youth, are considered.

Now is the time to recommit to adopting concrete actions to protect the needs and interests of present and future generations.

We leave this Summit with a more ambitious, clearer and concrete call to action to build a world for future generations that is in a far better state than in which we found it.

Our failure will be a betrayal for future generations. We dare not fail.

I thank you.

Issued by The Presidency, 22 September 2024