New York, 21–23 Sept 2024: The occasion for Scholz’s three-day visit was the UN Summit of the Future, which Germany has been preparing jointly with Namibia for almost two years.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz talks to Namibia’s President Nangolo Mbumba, who co-led the negotiations. The two countries worked together on the “Pact for the Future” to reform the United Nations.
“In a time of great tensions and uncertainties, we need a pact for the future more than ever,” said Scholz at the opening of the Summit for the Future in the UN General Assembly. “The Pact for the Future can serve us as a compass, a compass whose needle points towards stronger collaboration and partnership rather than more conflicts and fragmentation.”
The UN member states adopted the Pact for the Future. Across 56 action points, the states undertake to cooperate more closely in almost all areas of multilateralism.
The Federal Chancellor had a packed schedule and held several bilateral meetings during his visit, including a face-to-face meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.
He also spoke to leaders of the small island developing states. The island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a member of the grouping, and Scholz met its Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.
At the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which engages with the Holocaust, Scholz visited the special exhibition on hate speech, after which he spoke to young leaders of Jewish organisations.
The Federal Chancellor visited Bloomberg Tower and met Michael Bloomberg, who founded the Bloomberg company. Bloomberg set up the media group in 1981 and it is now considered one of the largest in the world.
At the Museum of Modern Art, the artist Thomas Schütte gave Scholz a personal guided tour of the exhibition.
Meeting with heads of state and government to discuss global governance.
Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock then attended a reception to mark the conclusion of the Summit of the Future.
The vote to approve the Pact for the Future marked the end of two years of tireless work by Germany and Namibia. The pact kicks off reforms affecting areas such as the architecture of international finance, cooperation on the UN Security Council, development cooperation, and compliance with international sustainability goals.
The pact is “a sign that the possibility exists for cooperation between the countries of the world in spite of all the challenges we face, the many sudden crises and of course the several wars with which we must concern ourselves,” said the Federal Chancellor in New York.