The Residence of the Kingdom of Morocco hosted a lecture given by Former Prime Minister and current Chairman of SIPRI, H.E. Stefan Lövfen, on the “future of multilateralism in a perplexing global context”. M. Lövfen was appointed, in 2022, by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, as Co-chair of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, alongside Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

This lecture, which was attended by more than 40 Ambassadors accredited to Sweden, is part of the activities of the “Group of Friends of Multilateralism”.

Launched on February 17, 2023, The “Group of Friends of Multilateralism” was result of a collaboration between the Embassies of Morocco and Guatemala, in Stockholm. This initiative stands as a constructive force of proposal in the service of multilateralism based on the law and respect for good practices within the system of United Nations.

It is dedicated to bringing together representatives from different regions of the world and partners from various backgrounds to share their thoughts with a view to strengthening the multilateral system, by focusing on priority issues, in the occurrence of peace and security, global trade and economic governance, climate change, sustainable development, health security. 

Convinced that a reliable and effective multilateral system remains more necessary than ever, Mr. Karim Medrek, Ambassador of Morocco, Co-Chair of the group indicated that Multilateralism can no longer be that of the past but should be rethought and adapted to the challenges of the 21st century. In this regard, while recalling that multilateralism coincided with the longest period of peace, stability and human development in the world, he is convinced that multilateralism must be based on collective interaction where Nations take together the major decisions imposed by the major challenges facing the international community today.

The current members of the Core Group of this initiative are Ambassadors of Morocco, Guatemala, Argentina, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, and Portugal. This article is published in Swedish on diplomaticworld.se.