Celebrating 20 years of MOPAN

Reflecting on multilateralism’s challenges

“We must strive for strong, agile and respected multilateral organizations. We must adapt multilateralism to a changing world.”

@Ignazio Cassis

Today, the multilateral system is facing pressures unforeseen in 2002 when MOPAN was founded. It is aiming to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda amid a myriad crises including the slow recovery from COVID-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and an ongoing food, fuel and fertiliser crisis that is devastating communities in the horn of Africa. In this context, effective partnerships remain critically important. More than ever, a trustworthy multilateral system is needed as the scale of these challenges can only be met by working together. The multilateral system requires trust between the member states that support the system and the organisations that carry out our collective mission to deliver solutions.

This was the backdrop for the celebration of MOPAN’s 20 years. The President of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis, convened leaders of multilateral organisations and member states to reflect on the future of the multilateral system and to identify how to collectively to build greater confidence and trust in it.

This anniversary event, “Multilateralism at a Crossroads: Rising to the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow”, addressed how important it is for member states to hold the organisations they fund accountable and to support their efforts to respond to the needs of those they serve. It reiterated the importance of rebuilding trust in the multilateral system. MOPAN members were pointedly encouraged to use their collective voice to have a positive impact on the multilateral system by reflecting on the kinds of finance it requires and how those resources can be best used.

The anniversary event concluded that to be fit-for-the-future, the multilateral system must resolve to integrate previous lessons learned. It must strengthen its commitment to multi-stakeholder approaches to solution-building and focus on the role of good governance. To deliver solutions of the breadth and urgency needed to meet current global challenges, the multilateral system must align its goals and collaborate to strengthen trust.

Moderator Mark Eddo, and Panel Participants Bjørg Sandkjær, Volker Türk and Oscar Fernandez-Taranco discuss the contemporary challenges facing the multilateral system in 2022 at the MOPAN 20th Anniversary High-Level Event, Geneva,12 December 2022. © Sven de Almeida

Participants and Panellists

Ignazio Cassis President of the Swiss Confederation Dr Rania Al-Mashat Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt

Mathias Cormann Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Oscar Fernandez-Taranco Assistant Secretary-General for Development Coordination, United Nations Development Coordination Office

Philippe Lazzarini Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Susanna Moorehead Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee

Bjørg Sandkjær State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Achim Steiner Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme

Michele Sumilas Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning, USAID

Volker Türk United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Suzanne Steensen Head of MOPAN Secretariat

Mark Eddo (Moderator) International Broadcaster

The Permanent Mission of Japan in Geneva hosts the MOPAN Secretariat to discuss findings of the MOPAN COVID-19 Study, “More Than the Sum of its Parts? The Multilateral Response to COVID-19”, Geneva, 2 November 2022. © MOPAN