APPEAL TO WORLD LEADERS AND THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
ON THEOCCASION OF THEGENERALDEBATE OF THE77THSESSION OF THEUNGENERALASSEMBLY
by the former UN system staff members signing below
In a couple of weeks the 77th session of the United NationsGeneral Assemblywill be opening, with world leadersflocking to New York for the “General Debate” high-level segment. Withthemilitary confrontation in Ukraine nowin itsseventhmonthwithno end to the destruction, killing and suffering in sight, the expectation is that world leaders will refer to it in their speeches.
We appeal that thisoccasion be usedproductively, in addition to reasserting the values of the UN Charter, the principles of non-aggression and of the peaceful resolution of disputes, to actually advance efforts to end the fighting and set in motionanegotiationprocess.Such a process could graduallyallowfor the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the broader contextof regional and global peace and security.
The authors of this appeal, former UN civil servants from many corners of the globe, constantly inspired by the UN Charter and its vision of a peaceful, prosperous and just world, expect the UN to do more to assist the parties in ending the war and finding a peaceful, just and lasting solution to their differences. We are encouraged by the success of UN-led negotiations thathave enabledtheresumption ofexportsof Ukrainian grains and facilitate the export of Russian grains and fertilizers, so that a major famine can be averted, especially in the poorest countries.We are also encouraged by the involvement of the UNand the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in avoiding a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.The UN and its Secretary-General need to capitalizeon thesefunctional arrangementsand pursue political channels of communication in parallel,so as to securea ceasefireandgeta negotiation process startedthe soonest possible.
Astheinterestsof Russia, as well as those of Ukraine’s main supporters, namely the US and the EU,extend way beyond this conflict and havegeopolitical dimensions,we urge that a negotiating mechanismbe created to addressrelatedconcernsfrom all sides.We therefore urgeUNSecretary-General Guterres, with the support of world leaders,toconvenean international contact groupof key countriesandto appointa special envoy,thus facilitating the discussion ofthesedivergent interestsandmaking it possible for them to beovercomethroughcompromiseand mutual guarantees.
Thecountrieswhich are partyto this conflict are members of the United Nations, and are thuscommitted to the UNCharter’s core principleofsettlinginternational conflicts by peaceful means(Chapter VI of the UN Charter) or, if that fails, by collective action led by the Security Council (Chapter VII). Membershipin regional organisations and/or military alliancesdoes not render the above principles invalid.As for unilateral action byPermanent Membersof the SecurityCouncilto block decisions from being taken,the Veto InitiativebyLiechtensteinor the application of provision 27.3 of the Charter shows the way forward for such situations in future.
While looking up to the UN Secretary-General to deliver on the above,we request that allthosewho hold highofficein countries and international organizations,andthushave the power to change the course of events,act in that directionimmediately.This would give real meaningand usefulness to this year’s world leaders’ gathering in New York.We cannot rewrite the past, but we can write the futurefor a world, where all people canlivedecent lives in peace, free of fear and want.Economic and technological competition may continue,the sameappliesforpoliticalinterests and concerns. But war has to end, if we want to avoid situations whereattemptedwinner-takes-all approachesmore often than notlead to havingonly losers in the end.
