Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the Â鶹APP General Assembly
at the Interactive Dialogue:
The Pact for the Future and the UN80 Initiative: From Commitments to Delivery
24 April 2026
Trusteeship Council Chamber
[As Delivered]
Mr. Secretary General,
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,
Thank you for joining this interactive dialogue on the Pact for the Future and the UN80 initiative, from Commitments to Delivery.
Given what has happened in the nearly two years since, it’s hard to recall what happened on the 22nd of September in 2024, because since then, the world has turned upside down again.
But this was the moment when there was this sense of satisfaction and also the sense of unity here in this building.
Unfortunately, I was not there myself, but many of you joined that moment when everybody, as I heard, were really exhausted, but also elated, elated, because the Pact for the Future had been adopted.
But even more, it was not just the adoption of another document of the Â鶹APP, but it had been done by consensus, in a moment when everyone thought that this was impossible.
And the Pact was more than one of the last consensus texts¡ it is also our joint recommitment of the multilateral system, in consensus.
Indeed, the Pact in paragraph six, explicitly, I quote, ¡°recognizes that the multilateral system and its institutions with the Â鶹APP and its charter at the centre must be strengthened to keep pace with the changing world.¡±
That is where the UN80 Initiative, on the other hand, comes in, which we worked on so intensively, especially the Secretary General, worked on so intensively, since the 22nd of September of 2024.
The UN80 Initiative recognizes that multilateralism can only remain credible, responsive, and capable of delivering for people everywhere, if it evolves, if it is reformed.
If we make our UN System ¡°fit for the future, effective, capable, just representative, inclusive and financially stable¡±.
If we ¡°match ambition with discipline through relevant, mandated intergovernmental processes.¡±
So today, we are not here to debate this mutual reinforcing relationship, but to reflect on how our efforts across the three workstreams of UN80, on budgets, mandates, and structures, align with the aspirations of the pact.
To look more precisely at the specific promises of the pact and to determine what can be done differently, either in the three work streams or more broadly across the entirety of the UN reform agenda and broader UN system to further accelerate implementation of the promises within the Pact.
Because, dear colleagues, and this is why this is an informal and signature event, we must be candid and look a bit below the surface.
Despite the promises we made in the pact and the SDGs and in many, many more forums and documents, we all know that we are still falling short in delivery.
4.6 billion people are not fully covered by essential health services.
2.5 billion women and girls continue to struggle for equality in every area, from education to employment.
720 million people went hungry in 2024,
270 million children are denied access to school.
So, if we really mean when we say that the Pact is our commitment, the SDGs are our benchmark, and UN80 is our delivery mechanism, then we have to deliver with more speed.
And that means fleshing out the substance, putting meat on the bones, as they say, to the UN80 process.
It also means having an open discussion about what works and what doesn’t, particularly when it comes to the concrete deliveries within the pact which are related to the reform of the Â鶹APP and their agencies.
So, as we are heading to the next briefing, also on workstream three, I would like to focus on that point for a moment.
Considering the efforts of workstream three and drive our work, to synchronize it, yes, we have to look beyond the scope to find areas for improvement and synchronicity.
This includes, for example, to give a very concrete example about the fact of children being denied of school, 270 million, many, many are related to conflict and crisis and wars going on. But some could be even reached better if we synchronize the work on education between the different agencies.
We have heard in the discussions around UN80, for example, that when we look at UNICEF and UNESCO, working both on education, that when we look back in time when they started their clear mandates, it was very clear that one organization or one agency dealt primarily with building schools or providing places where education can happen, even in crisis areas, and the others focusing more on school materials. Yet, over time, they have converged. So those of you being at the boards of these agencies, and this is just an example for all the others as well, we would really have to question now, not only here at UN80 process in New York, but also at the boards and the agencies themselves, why is there duplication? Again, it’s just an example now, that both are starting to build schools, and both are starting to work on the content of books. So, what can we do to ensure that there is more complementarity?
So, as I said, this is just one example, because it’s very visual to give for a long, long list, and it spans over the entire UN system. And this is exactly what we are discussing within work stream three.
But beyond this, we could say the same for the Financing for Development and the many resolutions we are having there, the commitments we are having, as we had in the same setting here on this stage, together with you, many discussions on how to implement the promises on Financing for Development. Sevilla has resulted in 130 voluntary initiative such as the great Borrower¡¯s Platform, where we together delivered.
Now to see how we can synchronize 130 more voluntary initiatives, which is not an easy task, and how to ensure that through UN80 Initiative and the work through the financial institutions, whether in New York or at the IFS in Washington, are they aligned?
We had a meeting here under the Better Together dialogue with the small groups of Permanent Representatives, and almost every one of you, under Chatham House rules, said that it’s also the issue as to whether our own missions are saying different things, between New York here with the UN and then the financial institution being back in Washington.
So, it’s not only about workstream three and the Secretariat, but also the synchronizing within ministries, within governments, to be aligned in the different parts of our work.
So thankfully, we have not only enough to do, but we have a great process.
And I would like to thank again, the Secretary General for setting up this UN80 reform process in these challenging times.
And the good news is we have delivered very powerfully with the establishment of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, we have delivered on one big part of the Pact for the Future. Also, in the light of that, we have to not only build new working groups, but to be very efficient in the work we are doing.
So, dear colleagues, let us move forward in the same positive spirit of the Pact and with the same commitment that we have applied to the UN80 Initiative and strive, if possible, for consensus. But let us also not shy away from moving forward as a majority when the opportunity for implementation is before us.
In this regard, I really thank all of you, especially the Secretariat, the SG, and the DSG, for joining our debate today.
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