Pope Francis said that reform in the United Nations is “more than obvious” after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine, which caused global fuel and food crises.
In an extract of his book published on Sunday (October 16), Pope said that the Ukraine war has highlighted the need to ensure the current multilateral structure finds “more agile and effective ways of resolving conflicts”.
“In wartime, it is essential to affirm that we need more multilateralism and a better multilateralism,” Pope said in the extract published by La Stampa daily. But the UN is no longer fit for “new realities”, he added.
Pope said that the world body was founded to prevent the horrors of two World Wars from happening again, but the threat represented by those conflicts persists. He said, “today’s world is no longer the same.”
“The necessity of these reforms became more than obvious after the pandemic” when the current multilateral system “showed all its limits”, he further added.
He also criticised the unequal distribution of Covid vaccines and termed it as a “glaring example” of the strongest person winning out against unity. The 85-year-old argued for “organic reforms” that would enable international organisations to regain their fundamental goal of “serving the human family”.
He insisted that international institutions must be the result of the “widest possible consensus.” Pope also suggested that international institutions should base their judgments on the preservation of rights to food, health, economic security, and social justice.
His latest book, “I Ask You in the Name of God: Ten Prayers for a Future of Hope” is scheduled to release in Italy Tuesday.
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