ON THE OCCASION OF THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 77TH SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
by the former UN system staff members signing below
In a couple of weeks the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly will be opening, with world leaders flocking to New York for the “General Debate” high–level segment. With the military confrontation in Ukraine now in its seventh month with no end to the destruction, killing and suffering in sight, the expectation is that world leaders will refer to it in their speeches.
We appeal that this occasion be used productively, in addition to reasserting the values of the UN Charter, the principles of non–aggression and of the peaceful resolution of disputes, to actually advance efforts to end the fighting and set in motion a negotiation process. Such a process could gradually allow for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the broader context of regional and global peace and security.
The authors of this appeal, former UN civil servants from many corners of the globe, constantly inspired by the UN Charter and its vision of a peaceful, prosperous and just world, expect the UN to do more to assist the parties in ending the war and finding a peaceful, just and lasting solution to their differences. We are encouraged by the success of UN–led negotiations that have enabled the resumption of exports of Ukrainian grains and facilitate the export of Russian grains and fertilizers, so that a major famine can be averted, especially in the poorest countries. We are also encouraged by the involvement of the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in avoiding a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The UN and its Secretary–General need to capitalize on these functional arrangements and pursue political channels of communication in parallel, so as to secure a ceasefire and get a negotiation process started the soonest possible.
As the interests of Russia, as well as those of Ukraine’s main supporters, namely the US and the EU, extend way beyond this conflict and have geopolitical dimensions, we urge that a negotiating mechanism be created to address related concerns from all sides. We therefore urge UN Secretary–General Guterres, with the support of world leaders, to convene an international contact group of key countries and to appoint a special envoy, thus facilitating the discussion of these divergent interests and making it possible for them to be overcome through compromise and mutual guarantees.
The countries which are party to this conflict are members of the United Nations, and are thus committed to the UN Charter’s core principle of settling international conflicts by peaceful means (Chapter VI of the UN Charter) or, if that fails, by collective action led by the Security Council (Chapter VII). Membership in regional organisations and/or military alliances does not render the above principles invalid. As for unilateral action by Permanent Members of the Security Council to block decisions from being taken, the Veto Initiative by Liechtenstein or the application of provision 27.3 of the Charter shows the way forward
for such situations in future.
While looking up to the UN Secretary–General to deliver on the above, we request that all those who hold high office in countries and international organizations, and thus have the power to change the course of events, act in that direction immediately. This would give real meaning and usefulness to this year’s world leaders’ gathering in New York. We cannot rewrite the past, but we can write the future for a world, where all people can live decent lives in peace, free of fear and want. Economic and technological competition may continue, the same applies for political interests and concerns. But war has to end, if we want to avoid situations where attempted winner–takes–all approaches more often than not lead to having only losers in the end.
7 September 2022
List of signatories as follows:
1 ABU–NUWAR Abdul Muniem
2 AGUILAR Pilar
3 AKOPYAN David
4 AMODEO Margherita
5 ANDERSEN Terje
6 ANGELO J.Victor
7 ASKWITH Michael
8 BÁEZ Julio A
9 BANERJEE Ajit M
10 BEIGBEDER Yves
11 BERLINGHOF Barbara
12 BETTELLI Paola
13 BHALLA Karunesh
14 BIELLIK Robin
15 BODDEN Vernett
16 BORCHARDT Katharina
17 BREINES Ingeborg
18 BURBIDGE Robert
19 BURLEY John
20 CAILLIEZ Elize
21 CARRASCO–BATTIN Lucia
22 CHATURVEDI Suvira
23 CHAVEZ María–Luisa
24 CLAYCOMB Paula
25 COHEN Robert
26 COOK MAUDE Denise
27 COPPENS Bertrand
28 COSTA–ESNARD Aurora Lola
29 DAHL Arthur
30 DAMEN Conradus
31 DAVIS Gary E
32 DE LA FUENTE Brenda
33 DE VITA Maria Gabriella
34 DE ZAYAS Alfred
35 DICK Alain
36 DJIBO Boubacar
37 DONINI Antonio
38 EVANGELISTA Douglas
39 FLORES Gilberto
40 FOX–PRZEWORSKI Joanne
41 FRANCAIS Ariel
42 FREEMAN Carl
43 GANIATSOS Thomas
44 GARCIA MENDEZ Emilio
45 GARDNER Douglas
46 GELDOF Lynn
47 GIBBONS Elizabeth
48 GORLICK Brian
49 GRANT Elizabeth
50 GRIEGER Wolfgang
51 GROSE Kevin
52 GUINDO Adama
53 GULUMA Esther
54 GURNEY Michael
55 GURUN Sema
56 HADJ–HAMMOU Nadir
57 HALLIDAY Denis J.
58 HARRISON Richard
59 HEYN Michael
60 HIGHAM Andrew
61 HIJAB Nadia
62 HOEFFEL Paul
63 INGRAM Joseph
64 JENSEN Tomas
65 JOSEPH Carol
66 KAHANE Matthew
67 KAHLON Himmet
68 KAKUCSKA Peter
69 KANNINEN Tapio
70 KLECKNER Simone
71 KOEHLER Gabriele
72 KOLLIES Ute
73 KOSTAKOS Georgios
74 KRONFOL Fouad
75 LANDON Carole
76 LECOMTE DU NOUY Patricia
77 LEE Donald
78 LEITNER Kerstin
79 LEWIS Gary
80 MALDONADO Maria Delia
81 MALHOTRA Kamal
82 MANUEL Susan
83 MARTIN Mary
84 MARTINEZ Theresa
85 MENON Saraswathi
86 MEYLAHN Angela
87 MIMICOPOULOS Michael
88 MOLINIER Cécile
89 MOUSOURIS Sotiris
90 MURRAY Gillian
91 NELSON Janet
92 NILAND Norah
93 NORTON Christine
94 OCKWELL Ron
95 OLVER Richard
96 OSORIO Maria Clara
97 PÉREZ DEL CASTILLO Gonzalo
98 REYNOLDS Phil
99 RICKARD–MARTIN Loraine
100 RIDDLE Margaret
101 ROBERFROID Andre
102 RUSSELL Andrew
103 RYAN Jordan
104 SACKSTEIN Edward
105 SCHUMANN Peter
106 SEVAN Benon
107 SIERRA Enrique
108 SKURATOWICZ Jerzy
109 SLUTKIN Gary
110 SUZUKI Rie
111 SWIETERING Jan
112 SZAL Richard
113 TABLANTE Zenaida
114 TAKASE Chikako
115 TAMAGNINI Andrea
116 THALMANN Anne–Marie
117 TOLMIE Ellen
118 TORTORA Manuela
119 TOSO Francesca
120 URSINO Steven
121 VAN DRUNEN Jiddo
122 VANDEMOORTELE Jan
123 VANDEWEERD Veerle
124 VAZQUEZ Lilia
125 WEISBROT Barada
126 WILLIAMS Michael
127 ZHAGORA Vladimir
128 ZVEKIC Ugljesa
