Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly called for the capacities of the international financial system to be redirected in a way that delivers greater fairness and better reflects the interests and needs of countries of the Global South, in an address to a leaders’ meeting on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.
Madbouly was speaking at a leaders’ meeting on “Partnership for Multilateral Action, Security and Peace”, held in New York as part of the 81st regular session of the UN General Assembly. The meeting was attended by Kenyan President William Ruto, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Council President António Costa, and a number of other heads of state and government and officials.
Madbouly is heading Egypt’s delegation to the 81st regular session on the instructions of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The delegation also includes Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptians Abroad.
Opening his address, Madbouly said all parties shared the same noble objectives of promoting peace and stability, supporting sustainable development, and strengthening multilateralism and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Achieving those objectives, he said, appeared harder today than at any time in the past, given the rising number of conflicts around the world.
He said poverty, inequality and the severe challenges obstructing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals continued at the same time to represent serious obstacles, not only to prosperity but also to international stability.
Madbouly said joint efforts must focus, as a priority, on preventing and settling conflicts. He said that over a long period, the initial response of some parties to potential conflicts had been to resort to unilateral measures, while overlooking the many benefits of diplomacy.
The prime minister said the root causes of conflicts had yet to be addressed, noting that in many cases those causes included poverty, inequality and weak development.
He said the multilateral international system must remain at the heart of all these efforts, adding that the United Nations held a unique position that enabled it to provide the vital assistance needed to achieve shared goals, provided it was sufficiently empowered to carry out its mandate.
He said every opportunity should be seized to give fresh momentum to the multilateral system, and to meet responsibilities by providing the necessary resources, demonstrating political will and uniting behind common goals.
Concluding his address, Madbouly reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to multilateralism and to strengthening international cooperation, saying Egypt stood ready to work with all partners to ensure that multilateralism did not remain merely an aspiration but became an effective tool for achieving peace, prosperity and dignity for all.
Madbouly also took part in the opening session of the general debate of the high-level segment of the 81st regular session, held in New York, on the instructions of Sisi.
The high-level segment of the General Assembly is the largest annual gathering of heads of state and government, foreign ministers and senior UN officials. It also serves as a main window for presenting national positions on various international and regional issues, alongside the holding of bilateral and multilateral meetings.
Egypt’s participation in the meetings provides a framework for setting out its vision on priority regional and international issues and for affirming the constants of Egyptian foreign policy, as well as for highlighting Egypt’s role in supporting regional stability and strengthening multilateral action.
