UN chief calls for multilateral cooperation to speed up development

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for multilateral cooperation to speed up development.

He made the appeal at a special event to mark the 80th anniversary of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.

Eighty years ago today, ECOSOC met for the first time. Along the way, the council has stayed true to its founding principles: fostering inclusive dialogue, forging commitments, promoting coordinated action, and mobilizing financing, said Guterres.

Despite signs of real progress, he added, the world is in a precarious state. Conflicts rage, as military spending goes through the roof. Inequalities grow, while development funding is in free fall. Temperatures climb, yet responses are scaled up too slowly. Technology barrels ahead, threatening to leave humanity behind. Rights are violated, yet impunity reigns, he said.

These intertwined crises cannot be solved with unilateral approaches or raw power. They demand urgent, collective responses. And ECOSOC can help lead the way, he said.

"So let us renew our commitment to safeguarding rights and speeding up development through multilateral cooperation. ECOSOC is an indispensable platform for global dialogue and action. Together, we can bridge the development divides, we can harness innovation for inclusion, and [not] inequality, and we can build a world anchored in peace, justice and shared prosperity," said Guterres.

But he cautioned that the council's continued success requires something more, especially in an era when multilateralism is under strain and trust is in short supply.

He asked to give developing countries more meaningful participation in global financial institutions, triple the lending capacity of multilateral development banks, lift crushing debt burdens, and help developing countries move up global supply chains.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight on Saturday, for the second time in less than a week, Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

The strikes targeted the Burshtyn and Dobrotvir thermal power plants in western Ukraine, as well as substations and overhead transmission lines, the minister said.

He further said personnel unloaded units at nuclear power plants as a precautionary measure.

Ukraine's state-run energy company Ukrenergo has requested emergency assistance from Poland in the wake of the attack, Shmyhal added, while the company said it has imposed emergency power outages across most of the country.

The previous attack on Ukraine's energy facilities was carried out on Tuesday.