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UN in Geneva

The United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, housed at the historic Palais des Nations.

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At a time in history when the world faces a convergence of unprecedented crises, and when multilateral cooperation has never been more urgently needed to address these threats, the nations of the world seem locked in conflict and division,” reads the statement. There is a deep deficit of trust in international institutions and among members of the international community, reflected in the proliferation of division, confrontation and conflict, and undermining humanitys collective capacity to respond to current and future global challenges.”

The statement affirms the intent of the UN Summit of the Future to adapt international cooperation to the realities of today and the challenges of tomorrow.

Inevitably, that ambition is imperfectly realized in the resulting Pact for the Future adopted at the summit in September, which reads in large part as a catalogue of all the previous commitments solemnly made but substantially unfulfilled,” the statement reads. Nevertheless, the executive committee affirms the main directions of the Pact for the Future, and issues an urgent appeal for all States to recommit to multilateral cooperation in order to address the pressing global challenges that threaten all our communities, and our common home.”

The statement urges all nations to recall the horrors against the repetition of which international humanitarian and human rights law were developed to guard.

We welcome the more concrete commitments to reform of the UN Security Council, as an important means of making the UN more fit for todays purposes, and for restoring the UNs credibility,” the statement reads. We welcome also the increased recognition of and focus on the role of young people and the international communitys responsibility to future generations, and to the protection of human beings in the context of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.”

The WCC executive committee is convening in Paralimni, Cyprus, from 21-26 November to focus on planning for 2025, including the budget and implementation of WCC strategies. The thematic focus of the gathering is on peace-building in the context of occupation, war, and conflicts.

Read the full statement

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WCC executive committee convenes in Cyprus with focus on peace-building (18 November 2024)

Photo gallery of the WCC executive committee meeting in Cyprus