Pedro Sanchédefended this Monday at the headquarters of the United Nations that the person who replaces António Guterres as the secretary general of the organization is a womanThe President of the Government took advantage of his intervention in the interactive dialogue of the Future Summit being held in New York to defend gender equality and also propose a system of alternation between the sexes in the presidency of the General Assembly.
The socialist leader placed gender equality among the greatest challenges to be addressed and called for “resist any decline in the rights of women and girls”who must participate “fully, equitably and effectively in peace processes to achieve more just societies and lasting peace,” as stated in the Pact for the Future.
The Spanish president also proposed economic measures such as a Global minimum tax on large fortunesfairer taxation and the responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI).
He stressed that Spain is working “in favour of the necessary reform” of the UN and its institutions so that they are more representative, efficient and transparent, aiming at the same time at a reform of the UN Charter itself in favour of “respect for international and humanitarian law”.
“Spain defends and promotes these principles with determination and consistency in all contexts, whether in Palestine, Ukraine or any other part of the world,” he stressed.
On this point, the president defended a fairer taxationmore effective and transparent tax policies that “promote domestic resource mobilization”, as well as “a global minimum tax on large fortunes and the full implementation of the two OECD and G20 pillars on the taxation of multinationals as a basis for a future framework convention on tax cooperation”.
Similarly, he stressed the need to work towards a “responsible development” of Artificial Intelligence and the rest of new technologies as well as the implementation of international standards that promote “their ethical use, transparency in their development and the guarantee of equitable access.”
Sánchez recalled that Spain created the the world’s first AI oversight agency and called for the UN to play a “key role” in defining a “global governance system for this technology.”
For all these reasons, he assessed “positively” the report of the advisory board of the Secretary-General, co-chaired by the Spanish Carme Artigas, and described the Summit and the Pact for the Future as “an antidote to fear and an invitation to hope”, concluded Sánchez, inviting those present to the United Nations Development Forum, which will be held from June 30 to July 3, 2025 in Seville.
Climate and human rights
Other challenges highlighted by Sánchez include the climate emergency and the defense of human rights. He believes that the upcoming climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, is an excellent opportunity to adopt a new, strengthened “fair and equitable” climate agenda and demonstrate that it is delivering on the agenda set.
Also, develop a new international financial architecture that serves to facilitate access to funds and eliminate obstacles, “to not having to choose between paying the debt or dealing with climate change”He further stressed that Spain has committed to mobilising 1.35 billion euros per year for climate financing starting next year.
Finally, he stressed that they must maintain their commitment to human rights and the dignity of people. “In times of conflict, fundamental principles such as international law or the principles of the United Nations Charter must be guaranteed,” he stressed. “Respect for human dignity cannot be selective or conditioned by political or strategic interests,” he concluded.
