Deputy Minister Alvin Botes: United Nations Country Team (UNCT) Annual Retreat

Theme: The Global Moment and Its Implications for Country-Level Multilateralism

Excellencies,
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr Nelson Muffuh,
Members of the United Nations Country Team,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for the invitation to address this important Annual Retreat of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in South Africa.

We meet at a moment of profound consequence in international affairs. This is not a routine period of uncertainty, nor a temporary disturbance that can be managed through familiar diplomatic language. We are living through a period of geopolitical rupture in which the normative, institutional and political foundations of the post-1945 international order is being tested, strained, and in some cases, openly defied.

As the United Nations enters its eighty-first year, this must not be only a moment of commemoration, but also a moment of candour.

The United Nations was founded on the ashes of war and genocide, animated by a simple but revolutionary proposition: that sovereign states, regardless of size or power, are bound by a common Charter; that peace must prevail over conquest; that law must restrain force; and that human dignity is not the privilege of the powerful, but the right of all.

For more than eight decades, the United Nations has embodied humanity’s highest multilateral aspirations. But anniversaries, if they are to carry meaning, must also be occasions for political honesty.

Today, the multilateral system operates in a deeply fractured international environment. What makes the present crisis especially grave is that some of the most serious blows against multilateralism are no longer coming only from marginal actors, but from certain major powers that were themselves central architects of the post-war order. We have witnessed their open disdain for multilateral institutions, contempt for judicial and legal restraint, and an increasing willingness to substitute the rules-based engagement with coercion, unilateral force and geopolitical bullying. This does not merely weaken multilateralism. It signals an attempt to subordinate law to power and to re-legitimise a hierarchical international order in which the strong act with impunity, while the rest are expected to comply.

Over the past three years, we have witnessed flagrant violations of international law, including genocide, actions aimed at regime change, illegal arrests, illegal renditions, kidnappings of heads of state, targeted assassinations of a head of state and senior state officials, violations of sovereignty, illegal unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, and unlawful wars undertaken in clear disregard of the purpose and principles of the United Nations Charter.

What is at stake is not simply the breach of isolated norms. What is at stake is the deliberate erosion of the very idea that international conduct should be governed by law, collective legitimacy and sovereign equality, rather than by impunity, exceptionalism and military power.

In too many instances, international law is invoked selectively against adversaries and ignored when it constrains allies. Multilateral institutions are expected to discipline the weak but are side-lined when they seek to hold the powerful accountable. This is not merely inconsistency. It is a profound crisis of legitimacy.

We are therefore confronting not only a crisis of multilateral performance, but a crisis of multilateral authority.

We are operating in an international system marked by systemic transition, fragmentation and disruption. Multilateral institutions are under strain and, in some instances, under deliberate attack. International law is being applied unevenly and progressively eroded. Economic competition is increasingly securitised. Strategic rivalries are intensifying, and we are witnessing elements of tripolar competition among the United States, China and Russia, accompanied by proxy tensions across regions and the growing militarisation of diplomacy.

We are living through what many scholars describe as a polycrisis and a permacrisis: overlapping and reinforcing political, economic, security, climate, technological and governance disruptions that produce sustained instability.

To paraphrase Antonio Gramsci, the crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old order is dying, and the new order cannot yet be born; in that interregnum, morbid symptoms appear. That insight captures much of our present moment. The unipolar configuration that emerged at the end of the Cold War is receding, yet a stable, just and genuinely multipolar, multi-cultural and multi civilisational order that includes middle powers, has not yet fully crystalised. In this unstable tripolar space, we are witnessing the resurgence of force, illegality, spheres of influence, economic coercion, militarised rivalry and the normalisation of exceptionalism.

This is why the present moment cannot be understood merely as a transition. It is also a contest over the rules that will shape the future international order.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is precisely in such a context that the defence and renewal of multilateralism become indispensable.

South Africa’s position is clear. We support the restoration of global stability and common purpose. We believe this requires a recommitment to solidarity, equality and sustainability; to dialogue over domination; to diplomacy over coercion; and to negotiated settlement over military escalation. This is not rhetorical idealism. It is strategic necessity.

The United Nations remains the primary global organisation entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and security, the protection of human rights, and the promotion of sustainable development. It remains the most legitimate forum through which the community of nations can address issues that no state, however powerful, can resolve alone.

Yet, if the UN is to remain credible, it must also be renewed, transformed and repositioned to meet contemporary realities.

That reform must be frank, structural and democratic. It must include reform of the United Nations Security Council, the revitalisation of the General Assembly, equitable geographical representation in the composition of the Secretariat in accordance with Article 101(3) of the Charter, and broader reform of the international financial architecture, including the multilateral trading system and the multilateral development banks.

For too long, the architecture of global governance has lagged behind the realities of global demography, global inequality and global political change. The result is a legitimacy deficit. Institutions cannot continue to claim universal authority while reflecting outdated concentrations of power.

Africa in particular, cannot remain structurally underrepresented in the institutions that make decisions affecting peace, development and finance on a global scale. A United Nations that does not adequately reflect Africa’s voice, experience and agency cannot credibly claim to embody democratic multilateralism.

At the same time, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Agenda 2063, and the Pact of the Future must remain at the centre of UN development work. The African agenda must remain visible, substantive and protected. Equally, the three foundational pillars of the UN — peace and security, development and human rights — must be preserved in balance.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Charter itself provides the clearest normative guidance for our present crisis.

Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter calls on the international community to seek the peaceful settlement of disputes. Article 33(1) is explicit that parties to any dispute likely to endanger international peace and security shall first seek a solution by negotiation, mediation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or other peaceful means of their own choice.

That injunction is not ornamental. It is foundational. It is the legal and moral rejection of the proposition that might makes right.

Conflicts cannot be solved through military means alone. Bombardment is not diplomacy. Assassination is not stability. Collective punishment is not peace. Regime change doctrines, unilateral strikes and the bypassing of international legality do not resolve crises; they deepen them, widen them, and render the world more dangerous.

This is why the current escalation in the Middle East is so deeply alarming. The widening war, including the unilateral and illegal military action directed against Iran and the risk of further regional spill over, threatens not only the peoples of the region, but also the global economy, energy security, shipping routes and already fragile diplomatic balances. More fundamentally, it risks normalising the idea that questions of war, sovereignty and political order can be settled through unilateral force rather than through the Charter framework and collective international process.

We must say this plainly: when the most powerful states dismiss international law as inconvenient, belittle multilateral institutions as obstacles, or act as though Charter constraints apply only to others, they corrode the normative foundation upon which all states — especially small and developing states — depend for protection, predictability and justice.

For countries of the Global South, multilateralism is not a matter of diplomatic preference. It is a strategic necessity. International law is not a luxury. It is the shield of the weak against the arbitrary exercise of the sword and power by the strong.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep structural inequalities within and between societies. It disrupted economies, widened social fractures and left lasting developmental consequences. Many countries continue to grapple with those effects, while disruptions to food and energy markets have intensified inflation, fiscal strain and the cost-of-living crisis. Once again, the burden has fallen disproportionately on the poor.

At the same time, the environmental crisis continues to accelerate. Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation pose existential threats that transcend borders but reproduce inequality. Those who contributed least to the climate crisis continue to suffer its worst effects. This too is a question of justice.

These economic, environmental and geopolitical pressures are testing the resilience of the multilateral system. But the answer cannot be a retreat into unilateralism, transactionalism or narrow nationalist isolation. The challenges we face are precisely the kind that no country can address alone.

Multilateral cooperation therefore remains indispensable. But its credibility depends on inclusivity. Inclusivity should not be viewed as a concession of influence. It is a strategic investment in legitimacy. When regions, peoples and societies are genuinely present as co-authors of global decisions rather than passive recipients, outcomes become more durable, more legitimate and more widely respected.

When South Africa concluded its G20 Presidency, we deliberately sought to place this principle at the centre of global discussion. The convergence between the Social Summit Declaration and the G20 Leaders’ Declaration demonstrated a simple but powerful truth: inclusion strengthens multilateralism.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ultimately, the success of global commitments is not measured by declarations, communiqués or resolutions alone. It is measured by whether communities experience improved access to education, healthcare, employment, food security, energy, safety, dignity and opportunity. This is where country-level multilateralism becomes especially important. Country-level multilateralism is where global principles meet national realities. It is where multilateral norms must prove their practical value. It is where cooperation ceases to be abstract and becomes tangible in the lives of people.

For South Africa, the UNCT remains an important partner in advancing national development priorities and supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We therefore warmly welcome the new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for South Africa, which reflects a shared commitment between Government and the UN system to advance inclusive and sustainable development.

The Framework aligns closely with South Africa’s National Development Plan Vision 2030 and supports the priorities of the Seventh Administration. These priorities include driving inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and the cost of living, and building a capable, ethical and developmental state.

Importantly, the Framework was developed through a collaborative and participatory process involving government, the UN system and a wide range of national stakeholders. This reflects the essence of country-level multilateralism: not externally prescribed agendas, but partnerships anchored in national ownership, inclusive dialogue and shared accountability.

At a time when global disorder risks paralysing collective action, country-level multilateralism must become a site of renewal. It must demonstrate that even in a fragmented global environment, principled partnership can still deliver. It must show that the values of the Charter retain meaning not only in New York or Geneva, but in communities where people seek dignity, justice and development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we reflect on the global moment, one conclusion becomes unavoidable.

The international system is undergoing profound rupture and change. But moments of rupture are not only moments of danger. They are also moments of decision.

We can allow this period to be defined by impunity, unilateral coercion, militarism and the erosion of international law and norms. Or we can insist that it becomes the birthplace of a more democratic, more representative and more just multilateral, multi-cultural, multi-civilisational and multipolar order.

Our task, therefore, is not merely to preserve multilateralism in its current form. Our task is to renew it with clarity and courage; to democratise it with seriousness; to defend it with principle; and to root it once more in the foundational promise of sovereign equality, peaceful settlement of disputes, social justice, equality and human dignity.

In a world increasingly tempted by unilateralism, our answer must be cooperation.

In a world disfigured by selective legality, our answer must be principled consistency.

In a world of fragmentation, hierarchy and exclusion, our answer must be solidarity.

And in a world where some seek to reduce international relations to the law of force, we must reaffirm — without hesitation and without apology — the force of law.

That is the responsibility of our time. That is the duty of this generation of multilateral actors.

And that is why the work of the United Nations, including at country level here in South Africa, remains indispensable. As the United Nations enters its eighty-first year, let us ensure that multilateralism does not retreat into procedural ritual and institutional self-preservation. Let us ensure instead that it rises to the demands of the age: become more representative, more inclusive, more development-oriented, more responsive to the Global South, and more faithful to the Charter from which it derives its legitimacy.

If we are to navigate this interregnum with wisdom, then we must do more than manage disorder. We must build the conditions for a new progressive internationalism anchored in justice, equality, human dignity and sovereignty.

I thank you.

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