Global Norms: Building an Inclusive Multilateralism

April 3, 2017

Former UNDP Assistant Secretary General, Dr. Bruce Jenks, discusses the UN's role in establishing basic rules and norms for international relations:  

In the history of the United Nations, there have been turning points when the UN has had the vision to see an opportunity emerge and to seize that opportunity, thereby reaffirming its relevance and vitality. In a rapidly changing world, where the world as we know it is changing before our eyes, the web of values and normative frameworks that lie at the foundation of so many of the processes required for an inclusive globalisation need to be nurtured, perhaps adapted and certainly strengthened. In his oath of office speech, the new UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, noted that “Today´s paradox is that, despite greater connectivity, societies are becoming more fragmented … In the end, it comes down to values. We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter: peace, justice,respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity.”
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