Statement of the Republic of Lithuania delivered by Permanent Representative H.E. Mr. Julius Pranevičius at an interactive Dialogue "The Pact for the Future and the UN80 Initiative: From Commitments to Delivery"
Updated 2026-04-24
Statement of the Republic of Lithuania delivered by Permanent Representative H.E. Mr. Julius Pranevičius at an interactive Dialogue "The Pact for the Future and the UN80 Initiative: From Commitments to Delivery" on Friday, 24 April 2026.
- Thank you, Madam President, for convening this timely discussion.
- We align ourselves with the statement delivered on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
- Lithuania sees the Pact for the Future and UN80 as closely linked. For us, the Pact provides a political direction, and UN80 should help translate that direction into practical delivery. In that sense, we agree with others that UN80 should not be seen simply as a cost-cutting exercise, but as a strategic effort to make the UN more effective, more responsive and more fit for purpose.
- In this regard, innovation and technology will play an increasingly important role. The Pact already gives a clear guidance for this:
- Action 38 calls for a multilateral system that is more effective and better prepared for the future, including by building capabilities and harnessing technology and data to anticipate risks, act early and manage uncertainty.
- Action 45 calls for a more agile, responsive and resilient United Nations, including through stronger capabilities in innovation, data analytics, digital transformation and strategic foresight.
- And Action 33 supports strengthening the role of the UN in science, technology and innovation.
- We find the 6th of April briefings on Work Packages 15 and 16, under Work Stream 3 of UN80, particularly useful in this regard. We heard about ICT consolidation and the Technology Accelerator Platform as part of a broader effort to reduce fragmentation, improve interoperability and accelerate practical digital solutions across the UN system. And we heard about the UN System Data Commons as a future-ready, easy-to-use platform to make trusted UN data easier to find, compare and use.
- These are good examples of how UN80 can help deliver practical tools.
- One such additional example could be the broader use of remote interpretation and conferencing tools, where appropriate. These can greatly improve the UN’s efficiency by enabling faster, more inclusive multilingual communication across duty stations, while reducing dependence on expensive in-person interpretation services. This digital shift not only supports innovation but also delivers meaningful cost savings – an essential consideration amid the UN’s ongoing liquidity challenges.
- For Lithuania, however, there is also a broader point. In the lead-up to the Summit of the Future, we worked actively to ensure that countering disinformation was reflected in the Pact and in the Global Digital Compact. This remains a priority for us. A future-ready UN must be able not only to use technology and data better, but also to protect information integrity, communicate credibly and remain resilient in an increasingly contested information environment. This is also relevant to the UN’s wider preparedness to respond to hybrid threats, which often exploit fragmentation, distort information, delay response and weaken trust in institutions.
- So for Lithuania, the link is clear: the Pact sets the direction, and UN80 should help equip the Organization with the capabilities needed to deliver on it in practice – including through smarter technology, better use of data, stronger communication capacity, and greater resilience across the system.
