In his Annual Report on the Work of the Organization, launched forward of the high-level session of the 79th UN Normal Meeting, Secretary-General AntĆ³nio Guterres emphasised the Groupās ongoing efforts to handle these urgent challenges.
Mr. Guterres highlighted the resilience of UN personnel, dedicated to delivering hope and assist to these in want, regardless of working underneath tough circumstances.
āI’m enormously happy with the workers of the United Nations, who’re delivering on their mandates in a fractured and typically harmful world,ā he mentioned.
āIn 2023, along with our companions on the bottom, we coordinated humanitarian response plans for 245 million folks throughout 74 nations and delivered life-saving help and safety to just about 160 million folks in pressing want.ā
The report says that the UN additionally mobilized a file $22.7 billion in humanitarian support from donors globally, enabling life-saving programmes in Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and areas affected by pure disasters like earthquakes within the Syrian Arab Republic and TĆ¼rkiye and floods in Libya, Malawi and Mozambique.
Nonetheless, these operations got here at a major human price. 2023 noticed the best variety of UN workers and humanitarian staff killed, with the overwhelming majority of casualties being workers of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) working within the Gaza Strip. The Secretary-Normal honored their sacrifice, underscoring the UNās dedication to standing with the worldās most susceptible.
Peace and safety core to UNās mission
Diplomacy for peace remained core to the Groupās work amid escalating international peace and safety challenges. In response, the Secretary-Normal proposed his New Agenda for Peace, which, amongst others, calls for multilateral action to handle the interlocking threats to our shared future.
The report additionally highlights that for the primary time in 34 years, the Secretary-Normal invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, bringing the hostilities in Gaza and Israel to the eye of the Security Council and calling for a direct humanitarian ceasefire and the discharge of hostages. The UN labored to forestall regional escalation and advance peace efforts aimed toward ending the occupation and reaching a two-State answer in keeping with worldwide regulation and related UN resolutions.
The UN additionally facilitated peace talks, supported State-building efforts and helped to guard civilians globally, together with in Sudan. As well as, the Group oversaw the withdrawal of some 13,000 personnel from its peacekeeping mission in Mali, generally known as MINUSMA, amid quickly deteriorating safety circumstances.
The Peacebuilding Fund allotted over $200 million to assist nationwide peace plans in 36 nations, with a deal with gender equality. Partnerships with regional organizations, just like the African Union, additional bolstered battle prevention.
A name for motion on International Objectives
In 2023, the SDG Summit gathered over 6,000 contributors, renewing international dedication to the Sustainable Development Goals, only 15 per cent of which are on track to be met by the globally agreed deadline of 2030, with many creating nations dealing with challenges in securing the assets wanted to make sure a sustainable future.
Environmental initiatives such because the Water Motion Agenda and a landmark settlement on plastic air pollution have been key achievements in 2023. The UNās advocacy for international local weather motion was additionally a significant spotlight of the previous yr, with requires fossil gas transitions, operationalizing the loss and injury fund, and ending deforestation by 2030.
Human rights and multilateralism
Human rights remained a key focus of the UNās mission. In 2023, the UN supported initiatives to get rid of violence in opposition to ladies, empower rural ladies, and guarantee their illustration in constitutional processes.
The Secretary-Normal additionally raised considerations in regards to the erosion of multilateral rules, noting the impunity with which some events to conflicts are concentrating on civilians, hospitals, humanitarian support and colleges.
In preparation for the landmark Summit of the Future, the UN launched coverage briefs on points comparable to peace, safety, and governance of synthetic intelligence, aiming to bolster the values of the UN Constitution and sort out international challenges like mis- and disinformation within the public sphere.
Dedicated workers
āAt each step, our Group and our personnel will proceed to face in solidarity with the folks of the world via these making an attempt occasions, as we search to forge a extra peaceable, wholesome, equal and affluent future collectively, and a world that leaves nobody behind,ā Mr. Guterres mentioned.
āTheir resolve is to attain outcomes for the folks of the world and to ship the assistance and the hope that each individual deserves ā and that the human household wants in the present day, greater than ever.ā