25 April 2019
Yesterday it was exactly 100 years ago when President Woodrow Wilson read out, in plenary session of the Peace Conference, the League of Nation’s draft Covenant at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. It was the first attempt of Nation States to work together that lasted not even 20 years. Then followed World War II and the Holocaust, after which the United Nations were founded. Decades of unprecedented development followed. For 20 years now, the system of the so-called international community shows serious cracks.
Yesterday, UN Secretary General Guterrez spoke before the General Assembly about an increasing “deficit of trust” in governments, political establishments and international organizations, along with nationalist and populist voices that “demonize and divide” were “very dangerous”, adding that “collective action is essential” in facing today’s challenges.
This was at the launching of the first International Day of Multinationalism in New York.
Mr. Guterres said: “We need a networked multilateralism, with close cooperation among international and regional organizations” detailed the UN chief, one “rooted in partnerships with the business community, civil society, parliaments, the academic and philanthropic communities and other stakeholders, in particular young people”.
INGO Dialogues note with interest and expectancy that civil society is mentioned in the above sentence. On the regional level this is precisely the commitment of the Conference of INGOs at the Council of Europe; this month it has adopted its own Code of Conduct in order to walk the talk as regards good democratic governance.