Over the past years, the multilateral rules-based order has come under increasing strain. Its key principles have eroded further with Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine. At the same time, global challenges from climate change and biodiversity loss to the COVID-19 pandemic demand global cooperation. As EU High Representative Josep Borrell said on UN Day in October: “Nearly eight decades ago the UN was created to save humanity from the scourge of war and destruction. The world wants, needs, and deserves peace. This is the top priority for the EU.”

The EU is steadfast in its commitment to the UN Charter in its entirety, including peace, human rights, gender equality, human dignity, and equality among nations and within nations. With its Agenda for a Renewed Multilateralism, it seeks to reinvigorate the multilateral system in close cooperation with its bilateral and regional partners. Singapore is a member of the Alliance for Multilateralism, an informal forum launched by Germany and France in 2019, and a driving force of the Forum of Small States it established in 1992. It actively supports the reform agenda of the UN Secretary General.

In the Conversation on the Future of Multilateralism, we will discuss European and Singaporean perspectives on the state of the multilateral system and explore possible ways out of the current deadlock. This event will draw on a wealth of diplomatic experience, with a keynote speech by the former-Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, Ambassador-at-Large Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Deputy Secretary (Southeast Asia and ASEAN) Foo Chi Hsia, and contributions by Ambassador of Austria Peter Guschelbauer, and Ambassador of Ireland Sarah McGrath. The Conversation will be followed by a reception.

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