The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella arrived in New York and opened the high-level Conference on Peace, Justice and Social Inclusion for Sustainable Development at the UN, dedicated to Objective 16 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The head of state’s visit will last three days and will be entirely dedicated to the United Nations with a focus on international tensions, the war in Ukraine and what is happening in Gaza.
In fact, not far from the UN headquarters, pro-Palestine student protests continue very loudly and Columbia University, which Mattarella was supposed to visit, is still closed to outsiders after the eviction a few days ago.
The topics addressed by President Mattarella in his speech
«I thank the Representatives of the UN and the International Organization for Development Law for having worked on this event, which is held for the first time here in New York, after the previous editions held in Italy – said the head of State – I greet all the participants, representatives of governments, international organisations, judicial institutions, universities, civil society, including in particular young people and women, committed to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, fair judicial systems and effective, accountable and transparent institutions”.
Achieve the goals by 2030
«The United Nations 2030 Agenda, with its Sustainable Development Goals, has the merit of having provided a concrete horizon for their realization, indicating a path that all Member States have committed to pursuing in the interest of the people, which first and foremost involves the preservation of the planet, the place they inhabit”, said the President of the Republic.
«Having reached the second half of the Agenda’s implementation timetable, a decisive acceleration towards the achievement of our common objectives appears essential, as reaffirmed last September, during the last UN Summit on the subject – urged Mattarella. – Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a more complex context than we could have previously imagined. Added to the intensification of the negative effects of climate change is the proliferation of dramatic conflicts that distance us from prioritizing the agenda itself. The consequences are disastrous: at present only a very modest percentage of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda would be achievable in the given time frame »he added.
The rights of individuals and peoples
«Objective 16, the subject of today’s reflection, constitutes and involves an unavoidable step – said the President -. In fact, how could we talk about peace as development if not by supporting the rights of individuals and peoples? How could we, if not by affirming the practice, in conflicts, of the principles of the Geneva Conventions on humanitarian law, which are today openly violated?”. For the Head of State the only way is “by implementing rules and initiatives against violence against children and women, against exploitation by organized crime, against the marginalization of disabled people”.
«These are issues that closely concern the institutions and administration of justice. It is about putting an end to the insecurity to which too many populations and too many people are confined. We are particularly honored, in this regard, to have proposed and obtained the assent of the General Assembly, just over a month ago, on a Resolution which, 24 years after the Palermo Convention, declared, recalling the figure of Giovanni Falcone, November 15th of each year is the “International Day for the prevention and fight against all forms of transnational organized crime”.
The rule of law and crime
The stability of the States themselves, the validity of the rule of law, are too often called into question by these forms of pervasive crime. If these are issues of particular urgency, the perspective towards which we are moving is that of making our societies more cohesive and just, expanding the civic and political spaces of participation to all components of societies; making institutions, at every level, more inclusive and more representative: ultimately strengthening the “social contract” between peoples and institutions – continued Mattarella – These are essential conditions for the development of the person, unfortunately fragile or absent in many parts of the world. This is also why Italy is committed with conviction to advancing the implementation of this objective and to collaborating to this end with organizations such as Idlo, which we host in Rome”.
No development without peace
«Peace and Development have crossed destinies. There cannot be one without the other. We live in an era with the greatest number of conflicts since the end of the Second World War which devour enormous resources in the arms race, taking them away from development. The call to build the conditions necessary for peace and to put an end to conflicts could not be more necessary and urgent.” The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, said this while speaking at the United Nations.
Dialogue is the basis of relations between countries
«It is on the basis of this approach that Italy deploys its action, with firm determination in supporting the instruments of dialogue based on that principle of multilateralism which today we see so dramatically called into question by the Russian aggression in Ukraine and by the consequences of unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We cannot continue to linger in relations between countries based on nineteenth-century visions and legacies, on drives for power.”
«The legal framework within which the ability to pursue the Agenda is placed is an essential tool. Relying exclusively on the good will of the actors involved has often proven to be a fallacious exercise. This is why Objective 16, the object of today’s reflection, constitutes – and entails – an unavoidable step.” The president continued.
No to nineteenth-century visions
«We cannot continue to linger in relations between countries based on nineteenth-century visions and legacies, on power impulses», said Mattarella, underlining that «with – and in – the United Nations we must work to reconstitute trust between nations, strengthen cooperation international and weave new networks of understanding and collaboration. Peace, inclusion, justice, are indispensable cornerstones for the sustainable development of every country and every society and I like to underline how they are key principles of the Italian constitutional system”, she continued.
The importance of attention to the environment
«To the intensification of the negative effects of climate change is added the proliferation of dramatic conflicts that distance us from prioritizing the agenda itself. The consequences are disastrous.”
Freedom of the press and disinformation
«Today we face a further danger that undermines the relationship of trust with institutions and between countries, that of disinformation. Last Friday was World Press Freedom Day which warns, every year, about the value of freedom of information for the maintenance of democracy”, underlined Sergio Mattarella.