As the United Nations commemorates its 80th anniversary, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the UN General Assembly and Co-Chair of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI), spoke to CGTN’s flagship program The Agenda about the urgent need to modernize the UN and make preventive diplomacy the central pillar of its peace and security agenda.
Espinosa underscored that the UN was founded in 1945 “to protect humanity from the scourge of war,” yet today’s world faces more than one hundred armed conflicts — from Ukraine and Gaza to Sudan and Yemen. “The promise of ‘never again’ remains unfulfilled,” she said.
“Peacekeeping is when it's already too late,” Espinosa told CGTN. “The peacekeeping operations arrive to a place that is already in conflict, and there is a need for appeasement. One of the big debts and flaws of the organization is really to double down on the agenda — to have a very nimble, yet powerful, preventive diplomacy unit that can do oversight, assessments, good analytics, good forensics, and have early-warning systems in red lights to prevent conflicts from happening. As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of response.’ That is not only in terms of the resources that are needed, but also the impact in human lives and on the future of communities hurt by conflict.”
Speaking as Co-Chair of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative, Espinosa emphasized that prevention must become the organizing principle of UN reform — not an afterthought. She called for “a modern, accountable UN that delivers for people, not bureaucracy,” adding that the UN’s legitimacy depends on its capacity to anticipate crises rather than manage them after they erupt.
“The Security Council must refocus its work on prevention and peace-building connected to development, rather than arriving too little, too late when things happen afterwards,” Espinosa said. “There is a need to reassess the working methods, accountability, and implementation gap of its decisions.”
Espinosa also linked prevention to sustainable development and governance:
“Peace is not the absence of war — it’s a life with dignity and free from want. Preventing future crises requires investing in education, health, infrastructure, and peace. These are shared responsibilities that demand cooperation and solidarity.”
She praised the emergence of new global initiatives, particularly those proposed by China, which she described as “constructive efforts to prevent crises through inclusive growth and shared responsibility.”
“The world of 1945 is a different world today,” she said. “The institution needs to be modernized, retooled, and made more effective. It’s now or never for the UN. We must mainstream, prioritize, and know what continues to be relevant — in other words, the UN must move from reacting to crises to preventing them.”
Espinosa also called for a redefinition of peacekeeping operations, emphasizing closer cooperation with regional organizations and a shift from reactive deployment to proactive prevention:
“Peacekeeping should be connected to the now active and empowered regional organizations. The UN should serve as an overseer, facilitator, mediator, and bridge builder. What we need is prevention — cooperation before escalation.”
Reflecting on the broader global context, Espinosa highlighted that today’s multipolar world requires more inclusive, networked multilateralism, where the UN works hand-in-hand with regional actors and civil society.
“The world is no longer divided by East and West, North and South. It is a time of shared responsibility. Preventive diplomacy must be at the heart of the UN’s renewal — for peace, for humanity, and for the next eighty years.”
The Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI), co-chaired by Maria Fernanda Espinosa and Vuk Jeremić, promotes early-warning mechanisms, mediation networks, and cross-regional cooperation to prevent the outbreak of violent conflict and strengthen global stability.
