BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12. Multilateralism is the only universal space where every country has a voice, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, said at the 13th Global Baku Forum on "Overcoming Divide in a World in Transition," Trend reports.
According to her, multilateralism is needed today more than ever. It is the only universal space where every country has a place and a voice.
"The crisis of multilateralism is not only a crisis of institutions, as has been widely discussed today. It is, above all, a crisis of political will and leadership. Therefore, we need not only rules—we need leaders willing to use these rules, defend them, and achieve results through them," she said.
Espinosa noted that the challenges are global in nature, and the system for managing them remains fragmented and weak.
"We often spend a lot of time discussing structures, councils, mandates, and voting procedures, but structures in themselves are not the goal. When the United Nations was founded nearly eighty years ago, it was founded on the idea of 'never again' and the task of post-war reconstruction," Espinosa delineated.
She also highlighted that today, in a multipolar world with deep interconnections, the key challenge is figuring out how to handle systemic risks: climate change, debt crises, inequality, technological transformation, and the consequences of conflict.
"If we cannot agree on the function itself—on the common task our institutions should address—any reforms will be merely cosmetic. And then we will be rebuilding the architecture again and again while failing to fulfill the mission itself," she concluded.
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