Resident Coordinator Babatunde Ahonsi's Keynote Speech at the Bilkent University's MUNBU 2024 Conference

I am delighted to be with you and to see such an enthusiastic group of students engaged in global issues. Let me congratulate Bilkent University Model United Nations for successfully organizing this conference.

It is encouraging to see young people believing in the power of global cooperation to solve global problems.  

The conference is especially important because global problems are mounting and posing significant challenges for humanity. Some of them are even existential.

Throughout the conference, you will have deliberations on a wide span of issues including disarmament, international law, and the UN Security Council. The challenges humanity faces will be at the forefront of your discussions.

2023 has been a year of enormous suffering, violence, and climate chaos.

Humanity is in pain. Our planet is in peril. 2023 is the hottest year on record.

People are getting crushed by growing poverty and hunger.

Wars are growing in number and ferocity. 

And trust is in short supply.

Accelerated and intensified crises and conflicts are widespread and interlinked. They affect us all. 

Peace is also at stake. The impact of new and ongoing conflicts, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in Gaza are limitless in their potential for global harm.

But, we can turn things around. 

We have the roadmap.

It is the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Humanity has shown throughout the history that we can achieve great results when we bring our forces together.

To do so, we need a more inclusive and networked multilateralism.  

That is why the Secretary General launched the initiative called Our Common Agenda in September 2021.  

A key priority of the Agenda is making young people fully participate in designing our shared future. 

The world needs your energy, courage, and commitment.   

This year will be pivotal for “Our Common Agenda” as outlined by the Secretary General Antonio Guterres.  I am extra happy to discuss it with youth, because I believe that with your support we have the potential to achieve a lot more.  

On the 75th anniversary of the UN in 2020, Member States pledged to strengthen global governance for the sake of present and coming generations. They requested the Secretary-General to report back with recommendations to advance our common agenda and to respond to current and future challenges.

That is how the “Our Common Agenda” was created.

We must ensure that Our Common Agenda will get support as we protect the planet, leave no one behind, try to find peaceful solutions to conflicts. Young people like you will need to be the torchbearers of this new agenda.  

That is why, today, I make three calls for action to you.  

First: Help us drive sustainable development that is people-centered and planet-sensitive.  

Second: Fight injustice and inequality with solidarity so that no one is left behind.  

And third: Be an active global citizen to find global solutions to global issues, including conflicts.  

Today, more than ever before, the realities of 1.8 billion adolescents and young adults like yourselves, represent a dynamic, informed and globally connected engine for change. Integrating your needs, rights to choose, and your voices in the new agenda will be a key factor in its success. 

Humankind has achieved impressive progress since the UN was established and we have established global institutions, created a code of agreed universal human rights principles and crafted a rich tapestry of international law. We have witnessed stunning technological progress, with millions upon millions lifted from poverty, diseases defeated, life expectancies on the rise, colonialism dismantled, new nations born, apartheid conquered, with democratic practices taking deeper root across much of the world and vibrant economies built in all regions.  

Yet, conditions in today’s world still do not fully reflect the vision of the United Nations Charter. Amid an excess of plenty for some, we witness pervasive poverty, gross inequalities, joblessness, disease, and deprivation for billions. Displacement is at its highest level since the Second World War. Conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza threaten global peace.

With our globalized economy and sophisticated technology, we can decide to end the age-old ills of extreme poverty, hunger and conflicts. Or we can continue to degrade our planet and allow intolerable inequalities and conflicts to sow bitterness and despair.

Both the crisis in Ukraine and Gaza should be solved through diplomacy and international law.

As difficult as it might appear today, the two-state solution for the Palestinian question, in line with UN resolutions, international law and previous agreements, is the only path to sustainable peace.

Any suggestion otherwise denies human rights, dignity and hope to the Palestinian people, fueling rage that reverberates far beyond Gaza.  

It also denies a safe future for Israel.

The spillover is already happening.

Daily exchanges of fire across the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel pose a grave risk to regional stability.

Attacks and threats to shipping on the Red Sea by the Houthis in Yemen are impacting shipping with the potential to affect global supply chains.  

Beyond the immediate region, the conflict is polarizing communities, feeding hate speech and fueling extremism.

All this poses a significant and growing threat to global peace and security.

As the conflict intensifies and the horror grows, we will continue to do our part.

We will not give up.

But at the same time, it is imperative that the international community speak with one voice: for peace, for the protection of civilians, for an end to suffering, and for a commitment to the two-state solution – backed with action.

Humanity is strongest when we stand together.

2024 must be a year for rebuilding trust and restoring hope. 

As Secretary António Guterres said “We must come together across divides for shared solutions”.

For climate action.

For economic opportunity and a fairer global financial system that delivers for all.

Together, we must stand up against the discrimination and hatred that are poisoning relations between countries and communities.

And we must make sure new technologies such as AI are a force for good.

The United Nations will keep rallying the world for peace, sustainable development, and human rights. 

I wish you a successful conference.

Thank you.