The biggest challenge to multilateralism is increasing nationalism, and racial and religious prejudices harnessed by populist authoritarianism, pronounced Maldives' State Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel on Wednesday at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters.
He made the declaration in a statement delivered at the High-Level Plenary Meeting to commemorate and promote the 'International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace'.
State Minister Khaleel iterated in his speech that such ideologies seek to suppress the principles on which the UN was founded and thrived for the last 70 years.
'Almost all the key challenges require all of us to work together & achieve consensus, leaving no-one and no-country behind. Agenda 2030 shows us how' #Maldives at the 1st International Day of #Multilateralism & Diplomacy for Peace’ #UN4ALL pic.twitter.com/gq9UIi0lHC
— Maldives Mission NY (@MVPMNY) April 24, 2019
He further highlighted that multilateralism is in the DNA of Maldivians, noting that the archipelago's first foreign policy decision following its independence in 1965 was to join the UN.
Khaleel also extended congratulations to María Fernanda Espinosa, the president of the UN General Assembly, on behalf of the president and people of Maldives for organising the meeting to mark the first 'International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace'.
The meeting was held in accordance with the General Assembly resolution 73/127, which states that the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace is an endorsement of the UN Charter and its principles. The day is marked to acknowledge the use of multilateral decision-making and diplomacy in achieving peaceful resolutions to conflicts among nations.
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