On February 28, 2024, ECFA received Ambassador Dr. Mohamed Idris to speak about the Summit of the Future scheduled to be held on September 22-23, 2024, on the sidelines of the next annual session of the UN General Assembly. This summit comes within the framework of Secretary-General António Guterres’ vision of the importance of finding multilateral solutions for a better and bright future for humanity. The upcoming Summit of the Future represents the culmination of the Secretary-General’s vision in this regard. A number of ECFA members attended the meeting, including Ambassadors Ezzat Saad, Mounir Zahran, Mohamed Anis Salem, Mohamed El-Ashmawy, Adel El-Saloussy, and Dr. Yousry Abu Shady.

Ambassador Idris reviewed the stages of preparation for the summit, starting with the vision of the UN Secretary-General for the new agenda for peace, and the framework that he proposed at the request of the United Nations States on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020. This was followed by a next stage in 2021. The work of the summit was approved in 2023, reaching Zero draft of the pact of future in 2024 by holding the summit.

The summit aims to strengthen multilateralism, within the framework of providing a more just order for humanity, and to implement previous agreements that have not been implemented throughout the history of the United Nations.

The outcomes of the summit will consist in a negotiating document of an executive nature and five chapters comprising issues of sustainable development, peace and security, science, technology, innovation and digital cooperation, and youth and future generations. These are contentious issues among various countries in light of their interests and national  policies.

Governance and the UN reform issue were also discussed, including expanding the membership of the Security Council, in addition to examining the possibility of reformulating or amending the Charter by putting into effect Article 109 of the Charter, in order to address the changes occurring in the international order at the present time and in light of the exacerbation of many crises.

The participants affirmed the importance of having a key role for the Arab states and the Arab League in this summit, and working on papers that can be presented at the summit reviewing the problems from the Arab and African perspective in light of the evolving international order and developing countries being the most affected.