UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a Summit of the Future to address global crises, scheduled for September 2024. Ahead of this, a preparatory meeting in September 2023 will allow governments, civil society, trade unions, and researchers to shape the discourse on multilateralism.
The recent report "Spotlight on Global Multilateralism" by the Global Policy Forum Europe, supported by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Geneva, contributes to this process. It offers critical analyses, recommendations, and insights on key areas including peace, finance, social contracts, digital future, and education transformation. The report highlights flaws in current multilateral structures, particularly corporate-influenced multistakeholderism in digital cooperation.
Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami contribute to the report with their chapter titled "Global Digital Compact – linchpin for a future multilateralism?" They advocate for UN Member States to lead multilateral decision-making, prioritizing transparency, deliberation, and meaningful participation of people's constituencies in shaping the agenda while rejecting compromised multistakeholderism.
You can read their complete analysis here, and check out the full report here.