Anticipating the biggest event in the sphere of multilateral diplomacy

Traditionally,the month of September is the period when is inaugurated the regular annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. In 2025 this session will be marked as the biggest diplomatic event of the year consacrated to the 80^th anniversary of the world organization.Many of the 193 UN member states will be represented at the highest level by heads of state, prime ministers and ministers of foreign affairs.

One of the most significant documents used for the preparation of the 80^th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and for its deliberations is the recently released "Report on the Work of the Organization", published in New York by the UN Secretariat.

This 27 pages document opens with the following paragraph: "The present report looks back on a year of headwinds and hope for humanity. In 2024, deadly conflicts continued to inflict massive suffering and displacement. Our planet shattered new heat records. Poverty, hunger and inequalities rose, while transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence expanded without effective guardrails, and international law and human rights were trampled."(p.4)

The report critically analysed in this chronique provides a thematic review of the UNGA recent work, covering areas such as sustainable development, peace and security, human rights, humanitarian assistance, international law, disarmament, and crime & terror prevention.

For space reasons we can focus only on the section dealing with the Promotion of justice and international law which informs that" The United Nations promotes justice and international law through its actions and mandates, including those related to international trade, oceans and the law of the sea, treaties and international agreements, peace operations, international tribunals and other international accountability mechanisms and sanctions. In addition, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, settles legal disputes submitted by States and provides advisory opinions on legal questions." (p.19)

More specifically, the report adds :" The International Court of Justice considered a number of cases in 2024. It delivered judgments on the preliminary objections in the proceedings concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation) and the cases Armenia v. Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan v. Armenia. In the proceedings concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), it indicated additional provisional measures. It also decided on the admissibility of the declarations of intervention in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar: 7 States intervening)." (p.19)

As a whole, the report manages to capture a wide spectrum of UN activities, reflecting an integrated approach across multiple domains.It is organized into clear sections, making it accessible and navigable for all readers.Its timely relevance is illustrated by the fact that it reflects urgent global challenges-from deadly conflicts and humanitarian crises to human rights concerns-offering a realistic pulse of current multilateral efforts.

Strikingly, pivotal concepts such as "multilateralism" and "multilateral diplomacy" are not mentioned at all. This omission is surprising given that the UN is, fundamentally, a multilateral forum. The report includes only a single reference to "solidarity". It says :" At the International Conference on Victims of Terrorism, held in Spain, we reaffirmed solidarity with victims of terrorism globally, recognizing their roles as peacebuilders and educators. With our support, Nigeria and the Philippines developed national assistance plans for victims of terrorism."(p.25)
Given the unprecedented scale of global interdependencies, a deeper and more frequent invocation of solidarity-as both a guiding principle and imperative-is lacking. The omission of "multilateralism" and more robust references to "solidarity" weakens the narrative. These terms are critical to underscore the urgency of collective action in an era marked by interconnected threats like climate change, pandemics, and geopolitical fragility.

Conclusion

This report is well-structured and thematically thorough. However, its rhetorical framing is conspicuously devoid of key concepts-notably multilateralism and sustained references to solidarity. To truly reflect the UN's raison d'être and the urgency of today's global interdependence, a stronger articulation of these values is essential.

Fortunately from other recent official UN sources we have the chance to learn that between 2024 and 2025, the United Nations system supported roughly 27,000 meetings across about 240 bodies and produced around 1,100 reports-a 20% increase since 1990-of which more than half were mandated by existing resolutions, illustrating the growing documentation burden.

Yet, only the top 5% of reports attracted over 5,500 downloads, while 20% received fewer than 1,000, and even a download did not guarantee readership. These figures highlight a persistent imbalance between the volume of work and its actual impact: resources are stretched by the sheer number of meetings and reports, while many outputs remain underutilized. This mismatch has fed directly into the UN80 reform proposals, which advocate for fewer but more targeted meetings, a reduced number of higher-impact reports, streamlined mandate creation, improved visibility for outputs, and better alignment of resources to ensure more effective implementation.

Thinking about the future, we cannot omit to mention the last sentence of the report analysed in this chronique which says :" Recognizing the need to accelerate the implementation of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy, the Organization took decisive action to address gaps in areas such as accessibility and the employment of persons with disabilities. (p.25}

It remains to wish full success to the UNGA forthcoming 80th session.