“Trust in Multilateralism Is Broken” Boakai Demands Urgent UN Reform

NEW YORK, USA: President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has told world leaders that trust in the international multilateral system is broken, warning that inconsistent and selective application of international principles is fueling global fragmentation.

Speaking Thursday, September 24, at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Boakai said the crisis of confidence in the United Nations cannot be addressed by abandoning multilateralism, but by making the global system more credible, representative and effective.

“Trust in multilateralism is broken and needs to be restored,” President Boakai declared, arguing that the problem is not the principles contained in the UN Charter, but the way those principles have been applied inconsistently and selectively.

He said the situation is contributing to growing divisions among nations and weakening confidence in international institutions at a time when the world faces conflicts, humanitarian crises, climate change, debt pressures and other global challenges.

President Boakai stressed that Liberia still believes in the importance of the United Nations, recalling that Liberia was among the four African countries that signed the UN Charter 80 years ago.

“Our answer to that fragmentation cannot be less multilateralism. It must be better multilateralism,” he told the Assembly.

The Liberian leader said his country's own experience of moving from civil conflict toward constitutional democracy demonstrates that institutions can be rebuilt when countries commit themselves to dialogue, accountability and sustained international engagement.

He urged the international community to make the UN more responsive to the people and countries it is intended to serve, warning that the organization risks losing credibility if global commitments are not matched by meaningful action.

President Boakai concluded that restoring trust must involve results, saying the world needs a United Nations that does more than deliberate on crises and instead takes effective action to resolve them.