Researcher proposes UN 2.0 System for future Global Governance
A Nigerian researcher and governance innovator, Adewale M. Bakare, has unveiled a groundbreaking approach for transforming global governance, advocating for what he terms a “UN 2.0 System” and “Multilateralism 2.0 as New Multilateralism,” to improve global order and tackle pressing global challenges of the 21st century. Bakare’s work emerged from his interpretation of a previously […]
A Nigerian researcher and governance innovator, Adewale M. Bakare, has unveiled a groundbreaking approach for transforming global governance, advocating for what he terms a “UN 2.0 System” and “Multilateralism 2.0 as New Multilateralism,” to improve global order and tackle pressing global challenges of the 21st century.
Bakare’s work emerged from his interpretation of a previously unresolved Web 2.0 metaphor during the EU-GRASP project—an EU-funded initiative aimed at exploring the European Union’s role in global peace and security. His interpretation led to the creation of new governance models and educational tools designed to upgrade global decision-making system.
His model proposes a transformative approach to managing global issues such as climate change, pandemics, poverty, security, digital inequality, and geopolitical conflict by re-imagining Multilateralism to be more people- and region-centric.
Bakare’s proposals have been recognized internationally. He was a semi-finalist in both the 2017 Global Challenges Prize and the 2018 Educators’ Challenge Prize, organized by the Swedish Global Challenges Foundation. His submissions—“A UN 2.0 System for Remodelling Global Cooperation” and “Modelling a Built Intercontinental System for Global Governance 2.0”—offer alternatives to the traditional, state-centric model of the United Nations.
Key highlights of his proposals include:
* A Reformed Security Council: Inclusive of regional blocs like the African Union (AU), European Union (EU), and future regional groupings such as the Asian Union (ASU), American Union (AMU), and Islamic Union (IU), alongside civil society networks.
* Global Commons Protection: Recasting global public goods such as the environment (including cyberspace and outer-space), civilizations, and human rights as legal obligations under international and the proposed intercontinental law.
* Digital, Youth and Women Engagement: Integrating digital cooperation, innovation, youth and women representation in UN processes.
* New Global Structures: Proposals for establishing a World Environment Organization (WEO), upgrading World Health Organization, and institutionalizing a UN Youth Council for broader participation.
* The Open State System: A vision that replaces rigid nation-state boundaries with open regional alliances that promote shared governance and solidarity.
Bakare, who founded the Bakarean Centre for Global Governance and Innovation (BCGGI), positions his work as a civil society response to the UN’s Our Common Agenda and the 2024 Summit of the Future. He advocates for a more agile and diverse UN and modernized UN System rooted in the “Quintet of Change”—enabled by data, innovation, digital, foresight, culture and behavioral science—to enhance the organization’s effectiveness and relevance.
He argues that reforms to Articles 4 and Chapters VIII of the UN Charter are necessary for implementing the Pact for the Future, and to enable an inclusive, agile, and networked global system capable of meeting current and future challenges.
“This isn’t academic theory,” Bakare said. “It’s a practical, inclusive and unified world approach for transforming the United Nations into a truly global institution that works for both people and planet.”
Bakare is the Founder and President of the Bakarean Centre for Global Governance and Innovation, Kano, Nigeria. He can be reached via [email protected], www.bcggi.org.
