New York: Europe and the Arabs
Dr. Abdullah Al-Dardari, Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States for the United Nations Development Program, confirmed that the Future Summit - which will be held on Sunday and Monday - will affect every individual in the region, and that the various challenges facing the region and the world can only be addressed through multilateral action. According to the UN News Bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning
In an interview with UN News, the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Assistant Administrator of the United Nations Development Program said that the Future Summit, which will be launched on September 22, 2024, "is not a distant issue, as if the summit is taking place on the moon. This summit will affect every individual in the region."
Al-Dardari stressed that there is no way to address the issue of global warming, the deterioration of the water situation and food security in the Arab region, as well as the issue of investment and creating job opportunities for youth or benefiting from modern technologies in order to provide the capabilities for Arab youth to find job opportunities and empower them, except through an international vision on what multilateral action is.
He stressed that "in order to look to the future, we must know exactly where we are now, what are the prospects for development in our region, and what is the role of the region in global development? Because we are not a marginal region in the world."
Overlapping crises
The Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States for the United Nations Development Program said that the region is at the heart of development in terms of energy, renewable energy, international trade corridors, and the center of economic growth.
He explained that the region is facing a set of overlapping and multidimensional crises, including conflicts, disputes, killing, and material and moral destruction that cost tens of thousands of victims, in addition to very large economic losses.
From this standpoint, he stressed that "each region needs a future vision that takes into account these challenges, and realizes the region's potential in a way that the people of the region deserve, and in a way that can enhance our contribution to global development."

Integrated packages
The immediate outcome of the Future Summit is expected to be a final version of the Charter for the Future, a global digital charter, and a declaration for future generations.
In this regard, the Assistant Administrator of the United Nations Development Program said: "Our duty and scope of authority is to translate these global trends into integrated packages of support to enable our governments and peoples to translate these trends into reality."

Al-Dardari cited the pioneering role of the United Nations Development Program in the Arab region in the field of using digital technologies in the future. He pointed to challenges related to water, which has become a fateful problem in the region, and food security, as the region has become the most vulnerable region in the world in terms of food security.

He stressed that the trends that will be decided at the Future Summit "will constitute an effective framework for us to benefit from in the region. The goal and work of the Development Program are focused on this issue."

"No room for despair"

The UN official stressed that the future "can only be built on a social contract based on trust between the parties of society."

He expressed his hope that societies will realize the importance of reaching this stage of trust, which means mutual accountability between the parties of society.
Al-Dardari said: "There is no room for despair because the opportunities available to us are great despite the challenges."