Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called on the countries of the United Nations to rebuild and recommit to multilateralism, saying they must not “blame the nameless, faceless ‘other’” and retreat into isolationism.
Making her debut speech to the UN General Assembly, Ardern leaned on her favoured issues of climate change and gender equality, saying “Me Too must become We Too” in a push to improve the rights of women.
Opening her address to the gathered delegations, Ardern said she was struck “by the power and potential that resides here”, before explaining how New Zealand’s geographic isolation had contributed to the nation’s values.
“Our empathy and strong sense of justice is matched only by our pragmatism. We are, after all, a country made up of two main islands – one simply named North and the other, South.”
“I am an incredibly proud New Zealander, but much of that pride has come from being a strong and active member of our international community, not in spite of it.”
However, Ardern said the country’s isolation had not made it insular, with engagement with the rest of the world shaping its identity: she spoke of growing up in the 1980s, when apartheid in South Africa and nuclear testing in the Pacific became touchstone events for Kiwis.
“I am an incredibly proud New Zealander, but much of that pride has come from being a strong and active member of our international community, not in spite of it.”
She said the UN had been at the heart of that international community, establishing a set of international norms and human rights which former New Zealand prime minister Peter Fraser said offered the chance for “a peace that would be real, lasting and worthy of human dignity”.
Those principles, and the need for collective action, were more relevant than ever given the global nature of the challenges facing the world today, she said.
Pacific feels ‘full force’ of warming planet
Predictably, a section of Ardern’s speech was devoted to climate change and its impact on the Pacific, with Ardern saying: “Of all the challenges we debate and discuss, rising sea levels present the single biggest threat to our region.”
“We can talk all we like about the science and what it means, what temperature rises we need to limit in order to survive, but there is a grinding reality in hearing someone from a Pacific island talk about where the sea was when they were a child, and potential loss of their entire village as an adult.”
While action remained optional, she said the impact of inaction was not, with countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati set to suffer “the full force of a warming planet” if multilateral efforts on climate change disintegrated.
Ardern said New Zealand would play its part, again highlighting the decision to ban future oil and gas exploration offshore – a policy which has proved popular to international audiences here, if polarising at home.
“We can use the environment to blame nameless, faceless ‘other’, to feed the sense of insecurity, to retreat into greater levels of isolationism. Or we can acknowledge the problems we have and seek to fix them.”
Ardern also called for countries to “rebuild and recommit to multinationalism”, saying the international institutions many had committed to were not perfect and could be improved.
Globalisation had been positive for many, but others had suffered from “jarring” transitions to economies which came with harsh consequences and “a growing sense of isolation, dislocation, and a sense of insecurity and the erosion of hope”.
Politicians had two choices in how to respond, Ardern said, in a veiled illusion to the protectionist rhetoric espoused by leaders such as US President Donald Trump in his own UN speech.
“We can use the environment to blame nameless, faceless ‘other’, to feed the sense of insecurity, to retreat into greater levels of isolationism. Or we can acknowledge the problems we have and seek to fix them.”
Changing world for a changing generation
While international trade had helped to bring millions out of poverty, Ardern said some had felt their standard of living deteriorate, while in New Zealand there had been some hesitancy towards signing trade agreements.
The growing trend of young people expressing dissatisfaction with political systems was in part due to their rapidly changing world, with the next generation of students and jobseekers not just competing with their neighbour, “but their neighbouring country”.
“As their reality changes, they expect ours to as well – that we’ll see and understand our collective impact, and that we’ll change the way we use our power.”
The solution was not to “be seduced by the false promises of protectionism”, she said, but for countries to ensure the benefits of trade were distributed fairly through “productive, sustainable, inclusive economies”.
Ardern mentioned the Government’s work to measure and reduce child poverty and improve the state of the environment as ways in which it could ease the blame and pressure on international institutions.
“Me Too must become We Too – we are all in this together.”
However, she said those institutions still needed to change, heralding UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ efforts to modernise his organisation and saying UN member states needed to help drive change – including reform of the Security Council.
“If we want the Council to fulfil its purpose of maintaining international peace and security, its practices need to be updated so it is not hamstrung by the use of the veto.”
Calling for a renewal of the commitment to the UN’s values, Ardern made specific mention of gender equality, saying the pay gap between men and women, an overrepresentation of the latter in low-paid work, and high levels of domestic violence were still problems both at home and abroad.
“I for one will never celebrate the gains we have made for women domestically, while internationally other women and girls experience a lack of the most basic [values] of opportunity and dignity.
“Me Too must become We Too – we are all in this together.”
‘Step back from the chaos’
Concluding her speech, Ardern said New Zealand and the world were facing “wicked problems, ones that are intertwined and interrelated”.
“Perhaps then, it is time to step back from the chaos and ask what we want. It is in that space that we’ll find simplicity: the simplicity of peace, of prosperity, of fairness…
“In the face of isolationism, protectionism, racism – the simple concept of looking outwardly and beyond ourselves, of kindness and collectivism, might just be as good a starting point as any.”
New Zealand remained committed to doing its part to building and sustaining international peace and security, as well as “promoting and defending an open, inclusive, and rules-based international order based on universal values”.
“The next generation, after all, deserves no less.”
