In a rapidly changing world, bolstered cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations was needed to respond effectively to emerging threats to international peace and security, the General Assembly was told on Monday as it held a high-level thematic debate on the issue.

More than a dozen Government ministers and high-level officials from regional and subregional organizations stressed the need for innovative, flexible cooperation frameworks that reflected the “comparative advantages” of the United Nations and its regional and subregional partners.

“Conflict, poverty, violence, exclusion and disasters are grave and growing problems,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he opened the debate. No country was immune from global threats, and no one country – however powerful – could respond alone to such problems. The Ebola crisis, the tragedy of migrants dying at sea, the international drug trade, organized crime and the rise of violent extremism all showed the urgent need for a collective response.

In that connection, he was doing everything possible to enable the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations to boost their cooperation, he said, adding that the collaboration between those organizations was already richer than ever before. In the area of conflict prevention and mediation, such cooperation had shown how working together “increases our powers of persuasion to press parties to make peace”. Regional organizations were also helping to shape the post-215 development agenda and would help the world reach the new sustainable development goals.

Delivering a keynote address, Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, said that while Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter provided for cooperation between the Organization and regional and subregional partners, action by the Security Council – which continued to be dominated by the victorious powers of the Second World War – was frequently taken without the input of such partners and had caused much harm to Africa.

In order to talk about strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations, the “old-fashioned” structures of the Organization needed to be re-examined and changed to conform to current realities. That would help to prevent the use of the United Nations for national or group interests of powerful Member States to undermine efforts of regional organizations and the peace of the world.

In that connection, the starting point for cooperation was the principle of complementarity envisaged in Chapter VIII of the Charter, he went on. “The United Nations should respect decisions taken by regional organizations, especially in areas of conflict resolution,” he said. Last-minute, high-handed interventions without a thorough understanding of the dynamics of the situation were wrong and injurious to the populations of the concerned areas.

Sam Kutesa (Uganda), President of the General Assembly, said that today’s debate was an opportunity to consider a number of pressing issues. First, how the international community could strengthen strategic partnerships with regional and subregional organizations; second, what needed to be done to build and enhance joint efforts in conflict prevention and resolution, human rights and other key areas; and third, how to ensure that regional and subregional organizations played a role in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

Indeed, the implementation of that new agenda would take place “on the ground in our respective countries and regions”, he said, noting that regional and subregional organizations were well-placed to ensure that implementation. Innovative and flexible partnership agreements were needed that drew on the respective organizations’ strengths, and more predictable resources were crucial.

A number of Government ministers, as well as heads of regional and subregional organizations, then took the floor to deliver statements about the importance of strengthened cooperation in their countries or regions. They also raised issues pertinent to their constituents and made a number of proposals for better, stronger cooperation frameworks.

Strengthening cooperation was about trust and respect, as well as inclusivity and innovation, said Annika Soder, Vice Minister and State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sweden. It was time to find new ways to deal with emerging threats, including the rise of non-State actors in conflicts. Together, the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations could find solutions to specific situations and create more systematic early action procedures. She urged the United Nations to take into account the role of regional and subregional organizations in its 2015 review of its peacebuilding architecture.

Stressing the ability of such organizations to respond quickly and nimbly to crises, Dieudonné Ndzengue, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Francophony and regional Integration of Gabon, said that the United Nations was making a “true effort” to engage in regional partnerships. However, the large number of crises in the world and their complexity required that those partnerships did more. Cooperation must be based on coordination. Equally important were interregional partnerships, such as the one between the African Union and the European Union.

Carmen Liliana Burlacu, Secretary of State for Global Affairs of Romania, said that the topic of today’s debate was most timely, given challenges to peace and security in many parts of the world, including Eastern Europe. Regional organizations played an important role in facing situations that threatened international peace and security, she said, calling for cooperation frameworks that were flexible, responsive and consistent with the United Nations Charter.

“The global community is at a critical juncture,” said Fred Mitchell, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Bahamas, representing the Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Building new partnerships would be essential going forward, and the United Nations must lend its weight to securing adequate and predictable financing for small island developing States and middle-income countries such as the ones in his region. In addition, the United Nations and its regional and subregional partners must ensure that a legally binding agreement was reached this year on climate change.

Georges Rebelo Chikoti, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Angola and Chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, said that the severity and number of conflicts in the world required stronger partnerships among the world’s organizations. In the Great Lakes region, countries and peoples were interlinked and conflict in one country could easily spread to others. He outlined a number of proposals for strengthened partnerships, including earlier coordination at the onset of a crisis, more systematic reporting, joint assessment missions and the enhanced mobilization of resources to implement agreed mandates.

Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, listed a number of today’s most pressing challenges, including reaching out to the most marginalized and vulnerable, protecting the freedom of the individual and regaining “retreating” tolerance in many countries. When those challenges erupted, no country was immune, and there was no option but to work together. Regional and subregional organizations demonstrated the comparative advantage of local and regional knowledge, he said, stressing the need to pool resources, build capacities and benefit from those advantages in a horizontal manner.

Other ministers or heads of organizations participating in the debate were: Nabil ElAraby, Secretary-General of the Arab League; Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); Erastus Mwencha, Deputy-Chairperson, African Union Commission; and Albert Ramdin, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of American States; and Alain Le Roy, Secretary-General, European External Action Service.

Also speaking in the morning session were the representatives of Guatemala (on behalf of the Central American Integration System), Ecuador (on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), Malaysia (on behalf of Association of South-East Asian Nations) and Tajikistan (on behalf of the Collective Security Treaty Organization).

This afternoon, the Assembly held two panel discussions related to the strengthening of cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations.

The Assembly reconvened on 5 May for a plenary session. It adopted a negotiated political declaration on the outcome of the high-level debate.