Amina Mohammed of the United Nations described the Russia-Ukraine situation as “a major jolt to the system.”
Mohammed also leads the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy, and Finance, which he previously chaired as Nigeria’s minister of environment. It was established by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to examine the larger effects of the Ukraine conflict on the “world’s most vulnerable.” The UN’s deputy secretary-general told CNBC that the battle in Ukraine will provide “lessons learnt.” “Hindsight is 20-20 vision,” Mohammed responded when asked if the world could have done more to prevent the conflict from starting.
Role of the UN in Ukraine War
Guterres visited Moscow this week for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine to meet with President Vladimir Putin. In Kyiv, he also met with Ukraine’s President. Russian is one of five countries with veto power in the United Nations Security Council. Guterres and Putin agreed on an evacuation route from Mariupol, but his visit came amid accusations that the United Nations Security Council has only played a limited role in the Russia-Ukraine situation.
In an emotional statement to the Council in April, Zelenskyy urged for reform. It was an issue that member nations of the Security Council had been “wrestling with for a very long time,” according to Mohammed.
When asked how important he feels an organization like the United Nations is in today’s environment, he replied she understands the public’s dissatisfaction with it. Mohammed, who is also the chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, recently released the “2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report,” a collaborative effort of more than sixty United Nations agencies and international organizations. The paper points to a post-pandemic “great financial gap,” with poorer nations unable to obtain sufficient cash or borrow at affordable rates for investment, preventing them from investing in long-term growth or responding to crises.
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