Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations says the organization’s most important job right now is to give the world a sense of hope.
The problem, according to Bob Rae, is what he calls an “incredible cascade” of crises, which makes hope scarce.
In his opening address to the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres drew up a list of priorities.
The war in Ukraine is entering its eighth month, and the economic and social consequences of the conflict are still being felt around the world.
The lasting effects of COVID-19 continue to hit the world’s most disadvantaged hardest, and climate change is ravaging the planet.
Mr. Rae accompanies Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the opening sessions of the 77e United Nations General Assembly this week in New York.
“We have to give hope,” he said. We must demonstrate that we can act to change things. And that’s the approach Canadians are taking around the world. »
Trudeau’s two-day visit to New York began on Tuesday with a bilateral meeting with Chandrikapersad Santokhi, the president of Suriname, who this year chairs Caricom, a political and economic coalition of 15 member states located in the Caribbean.
The rest of Trudeau’s agenda at the UN is packed with meetings on topics close to his heart: climate change, gender equality and sustainable development, among others. He will also participate in a panel discussion on the virtues of inclusive job growth with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Guterres also talks about hope
Giving hope in the face of despair was a dominant theme in Secretary General Guterres’ speech on Tuesday. “Our world is in deep trouble: divisions are widening, inequalities are widening, challenges are spreading further,” he told the assembled leaders.
He described a UN-flagged ship loaded with Ukrainian grain crossing a war zone to the Horn of Africa, where millions of people are starving.
Guterres was referring to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a complex UN-brokered deal between Ukraine and Russia, brokered with the help of Turkey, which is finally getting food out long blocked from this war-torn region.
Trudeau’s two-day agenda in New York also includes promoting the 17 goals of the UN’s sustainable development effort, of which the Canadian prime minister is co-chair. These global goals include climate action, ending poverty and pollution, gender equality, and promoting equitable economic growth.
Justin Trudeau will also participate in the Christchurch Call summit with his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Adern, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in order to combat the spread of violent extremism on the Web. He will also be on hand for events held in advance of the COP15 meetings on biodiversity, scheduled for December in Montreal.
The Prime Minister will attend a conference on Wednesday of contributors to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to which Canada has pledged $4 billion since 2002. Activists in Canada have urged the Prime Minister to commit 1, 2 billion extra for this year.
Ambassador Rae argued that Canada was one of the largest contributors to the Fund per capita.
“I know the prime minister is struggling with this question of what more can we do,” he said. The global pressures on us, on all fronts, are enormous. »