LONDON: The whole of humanity urgently needs dialog to become aware of the dangers that are threatening international peace and security following the erosion of the international system, a member of the Lebanese parliament said on Monday.
Addressing the UN General Assembly’s Summit of the Future on behalf of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati — who canceled his trip due to the escalating situation in Lebanon — MP Bahia Hariri said that effort was required to reinstate trust in the international system.
“The Summit of the Future is taking place at a time that is ever so sensitive,” Hariri said.
“The whole of humanity urgently needs dialog to call ourselves into question and to become aware of the dangers that are threatening international peace and security after the erosion of the international system, violence, (and) lack of respect for values and conventions. In response to this, we require efforts to reinstate trust in this system.”
Her comments came after Israeli strikes killed more than 350 people in Lebanon on Monday, including more than 60 women and children. It was the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
The summit represents an opportunity to enhance cooperation on critical challenges and address gaps in global governance. It also aims to reaffirm existing commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Charter.
Hariri said the Lebanese government “welcomes the efforts of the secretary-general and the United Nations to prepare this summit through the dialogs being addressed and the strategy and the approach to it in place since 2015; the 2030 sustainable development agenda; the Paris Agreement on climate change; the Addis Ababa action plan for sustainable development; the declaration made on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020; our common agenda in 2021; the statement by the secretary-general in 2022; the summit on the transformation of education; the fight against the spread of pandemics in 2023; and the SDG Summit.”
Hariri added: “All of these measures should reinstate trust. In the past we talked about a new generation every 10 years. The Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati is looking at levels of trust in Lebanese civil society and in scientific institutions and the youth.
“And we wish to underscore the importance of the secretary-general’s position on debating the results of this exceptional summit with civil society and with youth organizations.
“We hope that the young people of the city of Beirut will be the first to discuss the results of this Summit of the Future.”
