The NGOs in the ‘New Foundation’ working group, which began at UNESCO and now includes – among others – Pax Christi International, Pax Christi France, Pax Christi Vlaanderen, the Mouvement de la Paix, Chrétiens de la Méditerranée and MIAMSI, have put together 13 proposals below for a renewal of international institutions to make the system fairer and more responsive to the challenges of our time.
For more information about the group, visit the website of the CCIC – Centre Catholique International de Coopération avec l’UNESCO.
For your NGO to join this group or become one of the signatories, please contact: ghislainleray.paxchristi@gmail.com.
You can also sign the petition on Change.org. For your organisation to appear as signatory, kindly write the name of the organisation in the field ‘first name’ and ‘last name’.
A PDF version is available in French.
A- Strengthening the roles of the UN Secretary-General and of the UN General Assembly
PROPOSAL 1: Give the Secretary-General the possibility of having a decision adopted by the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority to overcome deadlocks in the Security Council, particularly on crucial issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
B- Strengthening the responsibility of the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council
PROPOSAL 2: Suspend the right of veto[i] of any permanent member of the Security Council that commits a ‘mass atrocity’. An initial proposal along these lines has already emerged from a joint initiative by France and Mexico,[ii] supported by around a hundred Member States. Mass atrocity refers to crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and large-scale war crimes. In the long term, the idea is even to abolish the right of veto.
PROPOSAL 3: Suspend the right of veto of any Permanent Member of the UN Security Council committing an act of aggression[iii] or any other attack on a third country leading to armed conflict.
PROPOSAL 4: Introduce the following procedures for suspending the right of veto:
- Procedure 1: suspension of the right of veto following a 2/3 majority vote of the members of the UN Security Council.
- Procedure 2: suspension of the right of veto following a decision by the International Court of Justice after referral by the UN Secretary General or by a member of the UN Security Council.
PROPOSAL 5: Introduce better representativeness in the UN Security Council to reflect more fairly the geopolitical realities of today’s world, thereby making the decisions taken more effective.
C- Strengthening the effectiveness of binding Security Council resolutions
PROPOSAL 6: Favour a ban on the sale of arms by third-party states to any ‘aggressor’ state that does not comply with a resolution aimed at it, rather than economic sanctions that penalise the civilian population.
D- Reinforcing the role of civil society through enhancing status of NGOs in the institutions, organs and agencies of the UN
PROPOSAL 7: Raise the status of NGOs, particularly those participating in the realisation of the various UN objectives, within the bodies where they are represented, so that the demands of civil society are better heard. This would also put NGOs in a better position to exercise their roles of influence, advocacy, warning and monitoring for the common good, and even mediation to help bring peace into international relations. This could be achieved by setting up permanent NGO representation within the UN General Assembly, through the creation of a Liaison Committee[iv] allowing permanent representation of the most influential NGOs around the world.[v]
PROPOSAL 8: Institutionalise and perpetuate the NGO World Forums[vi] organised by the United Nations in order to create a permanent international body, integrated into the United Nations system, made up of representatives of civil society.
E- Reinforcing environmental and social standards by drawing on existing institutions or institutions to be created
PROPOSAL 9: Strengthen institutions and standards for the sharing and protection of common goods (biodiversity, water, fisheries, air, etc.), with appropriate support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
PROPOSAL 10: Introduce international social and environmental standards to govern world trade. Such reforms could be carried out with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
PROPOSAL 11: Introduce a system for monitoring the application of these standards, through specific committees, in order to ensure their effectiveness in national legislation.
PROPOSAL 12: Set up a permanent global environmental institution to deal with the issues already raised by the various international environmental conventions, in particular the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and make the provisions of these Conventions legally binding through the creation of a treaty body responsible for ensuring the proper application of these provisions.[vii]
PROPOSAL 13: Regulation of digital technology and AI at the international level is necessary and must place human dignity at the heart of its actions, combining technological innovation with ethical principles, in line with humanist values.
[i] Although the expression ‘right of veto’ does not appear in the UN Charter, we will use this shortened formula to refer to the need for an “affirmative vote of nine […] members [of the Council] in which the votes of all the permanent members are included,” as provided for in Article 27 of the Charter.
[ii] Proposal reiterated on 11 November 2024 before the UN General Assembly (seventy-ninth session, AG/12654).
[iii] The act of aggression was recognised as an international crime in 2010 by the International Criminal Court (article 8bis of the Rome Statute).
[iv] Based on the model of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee.
[v] This would complement the role of the NGOs represented at ECOSOC, whose remit is limited to economic and social issues.
[vi] In continuation of the 2024 United Nations Conference on Civil Society in Nairobi, ahead of the Summit of the Future of September 2024 in New York.
[vii] Based on the model of the Human Rights Council established by the ICCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Pax Christi International is also a member of the UN Charter Reform Coalition:
