Susan Ngongi Namondo
We live in an ever- changing world. A world in which we must continuously evolve and adapt to survive and thrive. The development and social economic transformation of any country greatly depends on its ability to evolve and adapt to overcome the challenges of the times.
In many regards, Uganda has been a frontrunner in adapting with the times, as a trail blazer in social economic transformation trends. At the onset of the HIV/Aids scourge in 1986, under the leadership of President Museveni, Uganda adopted an open and effective approach to combat the disease. Uganda was a global leader in carrying out public information campaigns against the disease, which other countries went on to emulate.
Uganda also led the way globally in other approaches critical for socio-economic transformation, including decentralisation, universal primary education and adoption of national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), which paved the way subsequent national Poverty Eradication Action Plans (PEAPs) and National Development Plans (NDPs).
Uganda presided over the historic UN General Assembly in September 2015, at which the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by world leaders as a plan of action for transforming our world, including alleviating poverty in all its forms and dimensions. Uganda was the first country to assign a minister responsible for SDGs, supported by the National SDG Secretariat at the Office of the Prime Minister, which ensured Uganda was an early adapter in ensuring the SDGs were mainstreamed in the National Development Plan and budgets.
On the global scene, despite the bold decision taken by the UN General Assembly in 2015 to adopt the ambitious 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, on which some global progress was registered prior to 2020; since then, there has been limited global progress, with stagnation and even reversals registered on some of the SDG targets. This has been as a result of several factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic, global economic downturn and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, among others.
The increase in conflicts and wars all over the world in the past few years, which undermine development, are a clear indication that there is need to revitalise the United Nations to make it more fit for the present and for the future. That is why the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has convened the Summit of Future, which will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
The Summit of the Future is a crucial opportunity to make vital choices. To restore trust. To deliver more fully on the promises we have already made. And to ready ourselves for the world to come. The Summit will consider a wide-ranging set of ideas for global governance – changing how we work together at the global level so that we safeguard our future for present and future generations.
When world leaders gather at the United Nations in September, they will adopt a Pact for the Future, along with a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration for Future Generations. These intergovernmental agreements will pave the way for getting us back on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through unlocking greater volumes of development finance and addressing the debt crisis that is holding so many developing countries back.
The agreements will also pave the way for harnessing the opportunities and managing the risks of digital technologies, by closing digital divides, protecting human rights, managing data governance, and better understanding and addressing risks, including of artificial intelligence, ensuring global decision-making is guided by science and that science, technology and innovation benefit more people in more countries, strengthening the meaningful participation of young people in decision-making at all levels, including at the United Nations, and meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of those generations to come after us.
President Museveni is expected to lead Uganda’s delegation to the summit. The Summit of the Future is an opportunity for Uganda to once again play an active role in shaping the future of the United Nations. It is a moment that future generations might recognise as a turning point towards a better world.
The writer, Susan Namondo Ngongi, is the resident coordinator of the United Nations in Uganda
