So What Exactly Happened at the Summit of the Future?

And what you need to know about the "Pact for the Future"

Though it did not register too deeply on the radars of mainstream media, the most important outcome of the 79th United Nations General Assembly last week was the Summit of the Future. Yes, presidents and prime ministers gave important speeches, and, yes — this UNGA unfolded as conflict in the Middle East escalated sharply. But I would bet that in five or ten years from now, the single most important event of UNGA79 was the Summit of the Future and the adoption of its outcome document, the Pact for the Future.

This almost didn’t happen. Russia raised some last-minute objections to the Pact on the very morning the General Assembly was meeting to adopt it. Russia’s objections were skillfully shot down through some procedural craftiness by Congo, and then the Pact was adopted by consensus.

So, what exactly did the Summit of the Future achieve?

As the dust was settling on UNGA79, I caught up with Daniel Perell, Representative to the United Nations for the Baha'i International Community, and …