VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi encouraged the UN to strengthen relevance and readiness in facing global challenges while commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN).

"The world's expectations of the United Nations are increasing, to strengthen global leadership and bring real benefits to the wider community," Foreign Minister Retno said virtually on the high-level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN, according to a written statement from the Ministry on Tuesday.

The meeting is part of a series of the 75th UN General Assembly. Unlike the previous commemoration of the UN establishment, this year's celebration is carried out simply because the world is still hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the theme "The Future We Want, the United Nations We Need: Reaffirming Our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism", the commemoration aims to chart a path to a better world future and effective handling of global challenges.

According to Retno, the challenges of multilateral cooperation have recently been getting bigger with the increasing rivalry and unilateralism policies of a number of countries.

Foreign Minister Retno said that this cannot be tolerated, because weak countries will be increasingly marginalized.

"Without multilateralism, the strong take it all," he said.

For this reason, the Indonesian Foreign Minister offered two important things as a solution. First, the UN must have a real impact and not get caught up in rhetoric. 

In the short term, this can be reflected in efforts to ensure and facilitate access to affordable vaccines and medicines for all. In the long term, the United Nations must strive to create global economic resilience and strengthen the global health system.

Second, according to Foreign Minister Retno, the UN must remain relevant and be able to foresee future challenges. For that, the United Nations must continue to improve itself to remain efficient, adaptive, and have early detection capabilities.

The summit has also ratifies the Declaration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, which contains a commitment to global concrete steps to create peace and international cooperation in various fields.

On Sep. 23 President Joko Widodo will deliver a virtual speech at the 75th General Debate at the UN Assembly Session. (Antaranews)