Citizens must be made more involved. It all sounds wonderful. But when looking closer, it seems to be mostly about legitimising UNs own agenda and fostering more obedient citizens. The UN only listens to the citizens and groups that say what they want to hear. Criticism and opinions that do not support the UN climate action, migration policy, or health mandates are generally disregarded, dismissed, ridiculed, and thrown in the bin.

The eighth commitment involves the appointment of a High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilaterism , chaired by former heads of state and government, and is focused on improved governance of "our global commons". It also includes the re-establishment of the Secretary-General's Scientific Council and the UN taking part in more listening, participation, and consultation (including digitally) from the public. Secretary-General António Guterres calls for a "Quintet of Change" for an upgraded UN 2.0: Innovation, Data, Strategic foresight, Results orientation, and Behavioural science.

According to Guterres, the United Nations needs to be adapted for the digital era. The High-Level Advisory Board – which I described in the introductory post Multilateralism with teeth – will develop proposals for the following:

Improving the governance of global public goods and other areas
Anticipate how sustainable development and climate measures will be handled after 2030
Peace and security, for the new peace agenda
Digital technology, for the Global Digital Compact
Outer space, seek consensus on the sustainable and peaceful use of outer space, move towards a global regime to coordinate space traffic and agree on principles for the future governance of outer space
Global major risks and agreement on a Global Emergency Platform
Subsequent generations, for possible agreement on a declaration of future generations.
The United Nations intends to upgrade the global governance of the world. This includes "listening" to the citizens.