A Breakthrough for People and Planet, a Presentation of the HLAB Report

On 28th June, in collaboration with the Club de Madrid, we had the pleasure of hosting the presentation of the report of the High-Level Advisory Board (HLAB) on effective multilateralism.

“The world we’re entering today resembles a world we left a couple decades ago at the end of the cold war. There is unprecedented pressure for multilateral relationships and a lot of the issues we will tackle can only be addressed through the lens of multilateralism.”

These sentiments echoed throughout the presentation of the HLAB report on Effective Multilateralism by the current President of Club de Madrid and former President of Slovenia, Danilo Türk.

The HLAB consists of a team of distinguished former heads of state, UN system entities, civil society, academia, and other diverse stakeholders, directed by the U.N. Secretary-General to study how effective multilateralism can strengthen governance arrangements that can deliver global public goods.

Effective multilateralism is the key to addressing the wicked problems of today and being prepared for tomorrow. It’s outlined by ten main principles. It must be people-centered, representative, transparent, equitable, networked, resourced, mission-focused, flexible, accountable, and future-oriented. These principles, combined with six transformational shifts listed in the paper, will help provide us with the tools to combat shared global challenges and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The six shifts call for a revitalized trust in multilateralism, and a heightened focus on the planet, global finance, digital and data governance, peace and prevention, and anticipatory action.

Through the panel discussion with President Danilo Türk, Sophie Muller (UNHCR Representative for Spain), and Antonio Vargas (Head Of Public Policy for Iberia, Amazon Web Services (AWS)), each panelist spoke about what they felt the role of multilateralism is in the modern world and how it will shape the future of our society.