Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued a stark warning to the global leaders saying the “world is in crisis and the system is broken”.
Trudeau said that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the world must change, as multilateral systems established decades ago are not working as they should.
He said this while addressing the virtual 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday (local time).
Trudeau said that world institutions like International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank no longer serve us well enough on what they were designed for – defending multilateralism and international law, protecting human rights and open markets.
“We are in deadlock, the international approach we relied on since the second half of the 20th century was built on the understanding that countries would work together. But now the same countries are looking inward and are divided. We need to recognize where we are.The system is broken and the world is in the crisis. The things are about to get much worse unless we change,” he said.
Trudeau recalled that following war and economic collapse, previous generations established the UN, and international finance organisations in the mid-20th century, such as the IMF and the World Bank, thus laying the foundations for a rules-based international order and shared global prosperity.
“Today, all those institutions no longer serve us well enough on what they were designed for – defending multilateralism and international law, protecting human rights and open markets”, he said.
“That is what the crisis of COVID-19 has shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt. That things have to change. And not just on the world stage – but at home, too.”
Although COVID-19 has pushed many countries to the brink, and generated a humanitarian crisis, Trudeau warned of the greater threat of climate change.
He called for “a new way of thinking” on climate, inequality and health.
“Too often, concerted action is blocked – the needs of our citizens are denied – as a result of gridlock at decision-making bodies”, he charged.