STATEMENT BY MS LEE ZHU’AI SIÂN, DELEGATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE TO THE 79TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON AGENDA ITEM 125 “COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND REGIONAL AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS”, 18 NOVEMBER 2024

Mr President,

1 My delegation thanks the Secretary-General for his report A/79/302 on the cooperation between the UN and regional and other organisations for the period August 2022 to August 2024. As the report notes, the past two years has seen a deepening of interlinked crises confronting humanity. Geopolitical competition, climate change, transnational crime, terrorism, conflict, widening inequality, and crippling debt threaten decades of development. Mistrust has made multilateral cooperation more difficult exactly when it is needed the most.

2 Countries cannot tackle such transnational challenges alone, nor should they have to. 79 years ago, the UN Charter, in its Article VIII, articulated a framework where global and regional organisations come together to address critical challenges. The ensuing decades have shown that regional and other international organisations have helped to foster cooperation, economic integration, and conflict prevention, as well as reinforce national resilience and global progress towards sustainable peace and security, human rights, and development.

Mr President,

3 Close and effective cooperation between the UN and regional and other organisations continues to be indispensable to achieving the goals of the UN. The Pact for the Future makes this point several times, including in relation to conflict prevention, pacific settlement of disputes, preventing and combatting terrorism, and advancing a digital future. Due to their location, history, and composition, these organisations have distinct approaches, experiences, and expertise that can inform the UN about what works in specific geographies and contexts.

4 Regional organisations play a vital role in supporting and strengthening the multilateral rules-based system based on respect for international law and the UN Charter. In this regard, regional organisations should not be seen as a substitute for the work of the UN, but as an essential partner, operating in a manner consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

5 Singapore is heartened that the UN has continued to proactively strengthen collaboration with regional organisations in these troubled times. I highlight a few examples. The UN continues to support the flagship African Union initiative “Silencing the Guns in Africa”. Last December, the Security Council adopted resolution 2719 which opened the door to UN funding to support adequate, predictable, and sustainable financing for African Union-led peace support operations. This was a significant progress in UN-AU partnership. In the Caribbean, the UN works with CARICOM to address violence against women and girls, and ensure coherence between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies. The UN has provided technical support to the League of Arab States to develop the first Arab Strategy for Youth, Peace and Security for the period 2023 to 2028, which was endorsed at the League of Arab States Summit in Bahrain in May 2024. The UN supports capacity building among Pacific Island States, and is accelerating cooperation with them in areas such as climate finance, governance, developing resilient communities, and the blue economy.

6 Singapore welcomes in particular the continued wide-ranging cooperation between the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. This cooperation spans peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance, training for peacekeepers, counter-terrorism, transnational organised crime, cybersecurity, intellectual property, elimination of child labour, disaster risk reduction and management, climate change, food security, sustainable urbanisation, transboundary haze pollution, and upholding the rule of law. As Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted last month at the 14th ASEAN-UN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, ASEAN exemplifies community and cooperation, and plays a key role in shaping a prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable world. We are pleased that over 90% of the agreed action lines under the 2nd Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between the United Nations and ASEAN for the period 2021 to 2025 were addressed by the first quarter of 2024, which reaffirms our commitment to multilateralism, and improving the lives of our people.

7 Singapore looks forward to the adoption of the biennial draft resolution on cooperation between the UN and INTERPOL in due course. Since its establishment, INTERPOL has played a critical role in international law enforcement. And Singapore is proud to contribute to its endeavours. We have been a member of INTERPOL since 1968, and Singapore has also hosted the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation since 2015. We are committed to strengthening the partnership between the UN and INTERPOL to keep our societies and peoples safe.

Mr President,

8 A UN with robust partnerships with other organisations is critical. We are pleased that such cooperation has become more advanced and multi-layered over the years, which goes a long way in helping UN Member States address the complex and overlapping challenges today.

9 The approaching 80th anniversary of the UN’s founding in 2025 is an opportunity for States to reinvigorate multilateralism by promoting trust, transparency, and détente. Let us recommit ourselves to pursuing and deepening partnerships that enable us – the United Nations – to maintain peace and security, uphold international law, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

10 Thank you.

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