The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, expressed satisfaction with Namibia’s role in co-steering with Germany in the negotiations for the Summit of the Future.

Guterres conveyed his appreciation to President Nangolo Mbumba during a courtesy meeting at the UN headquarters on Thursday.

He pointed out that Namibia and Germany, through concerted efforts, brought onboard influential blocs such as the G77 and others to negotiate the Global Action Pact to chart a shared future. 

This Pact is expected to be adopted at the end of the Summit.

The UN Chief agrees on the need to reform global governance institutions to address the structural imbalances and inequities caused by colonialism among developing countries. 

Hence, he says, the need for reforming these institutions, most of which were set up while African countries were still under colonial rule and remained unrepresentative. 

Given this, Guterres said that the general sentiments among most nations are positive about the need for reforms.

However, the question remains how these reforms should be undertaken. 

President Mbumba expressed gratitude to the Secretary-General for acknowledging Namibia’s role in strengthening and promoting robust multilateral systems.

The Namibian leader also appreciated the decision by Guterres to appoint former First Lady, Monica Geingos as one of the four new Sustainable Development Goals Advocates, dedicated to accelerating the progress of the SDGs. 

Both leaders expressed the hope that the negotiations would be concluded by the end of the Summit and the Global Action Pact adopted to ensure a shared, peaceful and prosperous future for all humanity.