UN2020 Monthly Update (February 2020)

Event Description

Cooperation among nations was under pressure in 2020, the year the United Nations marked its 75th anniversary. Governments had only months to agree what to say about it. To mark the anniversary, the United Nations launched the biggest-ever global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want. That conversation was called UN75. Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) held monthly UN2020 updates through the year. UN2020 was a civil society campaign for a leaders-level review of the UN at its 75th anniversary. This February update came days after governments in New York opened negotiations on a political declaration for the anniversary. Those talks began on 21 February.

Richard Ponzio briefed members on how UN2020 and the Together First campaign carry civil society ideas into the official process. Both campaigns were channels for groups like CGS to take part. He also covered the UN75 survey and local dialogues. Then he set out the calendar. A first draft of the declaration was due in early May, with negotiations to the third week of June. A People’s Forum would meet in New York on 23 and 24 April. A San Francisco event was planned for UN Charter Day, and a leaders’ summit for 21 September.

Members asked whether the consultations amount to more than talk. They urged that democratizing the UN system be added to the declaration. They also discussed whether CGS should name a goal for the UN’s 100th anniversary in 2045.

Speakers

• Richard Ponzio, Director of the Just Security 2020 program at the Stimson Center and a founding member of the UN2020 initiative

Titles are as of the event date.

Policy Focus

UN75, the UN2020 campaign and United Nations reform. In January the Secretary-General had named four threats: conflict, climate, inequality and disruptive technology. The talk covered those threats. It also covered how civil society can shape a short anniversary declaration while pressing for bolder reform afterward.

See also: the March 2020 and September 2020 UN2020 updates.

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