Summit of the Future No 30: Rev 1 of Pact for the Future imminent – update from Co-facilitators at 2024 UN Civil Society Conference

During the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference, Ambassador Neville M Gertze, co-facilitator, gave an update on the Pact for the Future (Pact), including on the release of Rev 1. 

He first expressed the condolences of all co-facilitators to the people of Kenya for those who lost their lives and those who had been affect by the floods. He also took the opportunity to thank the UN Office in Nairobi and the conference co-chairs for hosting them.  

Ambassador Gertze announced that they planned to release the revised draft, Rev 1, this week in New York, and provided updated information on the remaining process up to September.

He pointed out that both Ambassador Antje Leenderste and he had seen many of the participants on line during the exchanges, who were therefore already in tune with issues raised and the summaries of the meetings.  The zero draft of the Pact had been presented on 29 January and was based strongly on the decisions adopted by the General Assembly in the summer of 2023, and was guided by delegations interventions during the informal consultations in December, and they also made use of the written submissions from Member States and other stakeholders. These contributions provided them with a clear picture of the priorities and vision for the Pact for the Future.

General Assembly Resolution 76/307 asked for an “ambitious, concise and action-oriented Pact” with each word being important as to what is means in this context, particularly when they had the compilation document of 245 pages of contributions… Their aim has been to produce a document that is full of  ambition and avoids too much previously agreed language, but ensures that the Pact is action-oriented and that it will move forward from the UN75 commitments. At the same time they wish Rev 1 to be as  concise as possible, without sacrificing a balanced text. 

After the first reading, they received several hundred pages of amendments which were taken into consideration in working on Rev 1. They were not in a position to go into a lot of detail on the text but wanted the opportunity to listen into the Nairobi Conference so that they would have an inclusive process as they compile and finalise it. 

More action will be seen in all Chapters, together with some topics and proposals that were not in the zero draft. However, not everything will be included that was mentioned in the thousands of pages received.  After the presentation of the document, groups will be given time to coordinate with the start of negotiations at the end of May. 

In parallel, they are waiting for the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact to be agreed, so that they can be annexed to the Pact. They are also waiting for the intergovernmental negotiating (IGN) process, that is working on a text on Security Council Reform for inclusion in the Pact.

Finally, the Pact will be agreed at the Summit on 22 and 23 September in New York. There will be plenary meetings and interactive dialogues running in parallel, and youth representatives, and representatives of Major Groups and other Stakeholders will have opportunities to participate at the Summit. Informal pre-Summit days and side events will take place on 20 and 21 September.