UNGA adopts 'Pact for the Future' despite strong opposition from Russia

Russia was left isolated after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a “Pact for the Future” on Sunday, despite its opposition. The pact is designed to address the 21st-century challenges including climate change and human rights abuse that have grappled the world. Many believe that the pact is designed to revive the United Nations itself.

Russia opposed the agreement on the grounds that it supposedly represented “Western interests”. However, Moscow’s opposition was rejected on Sunday when 143 member nations voted in favour of the pact. Only seven countries voted against and 15 nations abstained from voting.

Before the voting, the Russian delegation maintained that if the planned vote endorsing the high-profile “pact for the future” were not deferred, the country would seek to move an amendment, asserting that the key issues addressed in the pact are the subject of domestic jurisdiction, in which the UN should not intervene.

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But the majority of the assembly threw out both Russia’s call for deferment of the pact and its amendment. According to The Guardian, Russia’s stance angered the African Union (AU) and Mexico, who went on to underline the fact that Russia had only limited support, notably from Belarus, Venezuela, Syria and Iran. The AU, which was led by the Republic of Congo, called for the Russian amendment to be rejected.

What was Russia’s issue?

During the Summit, Russia objected to 25 provisions in the draft pact, including asserting the primacy of national jurisdiction. The country also rejected common language on universal access to sexual and reproductive health rights, as well as gender empowerment more broadly.

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After Russia expressed its objection, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasised that the pact aims to bring multilateralism back from the brink at a time when the world [is] heading off the rails”. He insisted that the 21st-century challenges – from debt in developing countries to the climate crisis – required 21st-century solutions, The Guardian reported.

The UN chief has been advocating for such a summit for more than two years, as an attempt to persuade global leaders in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. The agreement comprises 26 pages and 56 recommendations. It repeatedly asserts the primacy of international law and offers a “new beginning of multilateralism”.

The document calls for UNSC expansion

One of the most notable aspects of the pact is that it calls for the expansion of the UNSC, to make the body more representative of the 21st century. It also enshrines the “UN role in governing artificial intelligence, the phasing out of fossil fuels in energy systems, reform of multilateral financial institutions, a recommitment to full nuclear disarmament and modernising UN peacekeeping so it evolves into war prevention.”

The agreement calls for the formation of an emergency platform for managing pandemics, food insecurity and environmental disasters and, a UN oversight body advising on the risks posed by Artificial Intelligence for all economies. It also involves planning to conduct a biennial UN summit on the global economy.

With inputs from agencies.