UN Secretary General Complains the UN Lacks Credibility

By | July 21, 2017

NEW YORK, July 21 (C-Fam) UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an occasion to overcome peoples’ “loss of trust in international organization—like the UN,” and in “multilateral governance.”

Guterres called it a “paradox” to believe that countries can address these issues on their own. “We need global answers,” he said, and “multilateral government forums.”

Guterres spoke last Monday at the High-Level segment of the 2017 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the UN Headquarters.

The Secretary General recognized a “lack of trust” in organizations “like the UN,” and said it is rooted in persistent extreme poverty, youth unemployment, and terrorism. “We need to be able to overcome this deficit of trust. That, in my opinion, is the enormous potential of Agenda 2030,” he said.

Guterres also bemoaned lack of funding, even though billions of dollars flow into UN coffers. In the past, he has argued for a “global tax” to fund humanitarian efforts, such as a fee on financial transactions.

Influential Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs followed Guterres’ remarks, arguing that “climate change,” and overcoming the “carbon, oil, and gas lobby,” are the main objectives in achieving Agenda 2030, and to eradicating poverty.

Sachs, Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, is a proponent of population control and one of the world’s leading voices against so-called “climate change.”

Sachs denounced the U.S. Government for pulling out of the Paris Agreement saying the decision was the fruit of corruption. “In my country,” he said, “the coal, oil and gas lobby has its hand on power.” Sachs did not point out that, according to Gallup polling, only 30% of Americans are concerned about the issue.

Sachs also blamed Europe for polluting the rest of the world. He argued these countries should compensate the rest of the world for the damages their emissions cause. “We need a polluter-pay funding,” he said.

Finally, the Columbia Professor condemned “tax-havens.” He called on nations to tax offshore deposits, and “tap the trillions of dollars going to armaments.” It is not “jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said, mocking a recent tweet by the President of the United States.

Professor Sachs did not promote abortion, nor did he urge countries to advance “sexual and reproductive health” for the implementation of Agenda 2030. But other powerful actors did, throughout the two weeks of HLPF.

LGBT and abortion advocates organized dozens of side-events for the promotion of “sexual and reproductive health and rights,”—language that does not appear in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—and for an LGBTI-inclusive implementation of Agenda 2030.

Moving beyond international consensus, eighteen UN Member States backed such an evolving interpretation of the SDGs, and released a “cross-regional statement” last Thursday, “in support of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.”

The Netherlands’ Ambassador called for “girl’s, and adolescent’s autonomy to decide freely on their sexual and reproductive health and rights.” He said, “Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights” is “a pre-requisite for progress.”

“Age-barriers,” and “third-party consent requirements and restrictions” undermine girls’ rights, according to the statement, without exceptions.

The U.S. was not part of the group of eighteen.

 

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