Leadnaija
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has emphasized the need to redefine multilateralism to accommodate the pressing needs of developing countries....TAP HERE TO READ FULL DETAILS.>>
Representing Nigeria at the Heads of Parliaments meeting on Tuesday at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, United States of America, USA, preparatory for the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, Switzerland in July under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Kalu stressed that the current multilateral approach is driven by the Global North, leaving the Global South to face significant developmental challenges.
He urged the United Nations to give Africa, especially Nigeria a permanent seat at the Security Council.
He said: “We need to define what we want to achieve with Multilateralism. The current dynamic of multilateralism is driven by the Global North while the Global South is facing pressing developmental issues.
“My people in Nigeria have a saying that you cannot shave a man’s head in his absence. If you want developing countries to embrace multilateralism, give them more seats in rooms where developmental conversations are held and tailored the conversation to embrace and address their challenges.
“Using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an example. We have 5 years to go to attain the SDGs. I agree that the SDG Goals were designed to address global issues but a critical appraisal will indicate that some of the issues the SDGs seek to address are not yet what developing countries wish to prioritize as they are yet to scale the hurdle of industrialisation and economic growth. Therefore expecting them to embrace aspirational SDG targets may be a challenge.
“Let us define what we choose to achieve by multilateralism and expand the voices in the room to accommodate more of the global South so that the aspirations will be truly global”.
