Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 30th Jan. President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis on Monday said that with the world at “an inflection point”, countries must recommit to the core principles of the UN Charter, during his visit to China.
Dennis Francis highlighted how the worsening impacts of climate change, hunger and multidimensional poverty are hampering efforts to achieve a safer, more just and more sustainable world, as he delivered keynote remarks at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.
He said geopolitical divides have sparked new conflicts, and deepened pre-existing ones, across areas of Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Mr. Francis said these worrying developments are laying bare the limits of the multilateral system and raising legitimate questions about both the relevance and ability of the UN to solve complex problems.
“They demand that we fortify our foundation – and recommit to the core principles of the UN Charter, that have offered us a guiding light out of the tumultuous past since the founding of the United Nations,” he said.
He commended China to play a leading role in global affairs.
Francis noted that it was the first country to sign the UN Charter, the Organization’s founding document, and since then has been a “notably steadfast support of multilateralism”.
“Since the horrific 7 October attack on Israel the escalation of violence in the Middle East, and the wrenching humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, continue to project the worst aspects of the human condition; precisely that which the Charter was intended to avoid,” Mr. Francis said.
He stressed that the General Assembly “has been both active and ambitious” on the crisis.
He acknowledged that by resuming its Tenth Emergency Session on the Middle East and adopting two resolutions that received overwhelming support from its 193 members.
