Leaders at the United Nations urged implementation of a newly adopted blueprint for addressing a wide range of global challenges on Monday, the second and final day of the Summit of the Future.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer,” said Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. “We must push for true and real reform – reform that listens to the voices of developing countries and addresses their concerns.”

She emphasized that the summit’s Pact of the Future must not become “a set of empty promises without tangible results on the ground.”

“Success of humanity lies in our collective strength, not in the battlefield,” said Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi. “And for global peace and development, reforms in global institutions are essential. Reform is the key to relevance.”

The pact includes frameworks for promoting peace and security, sustainable development, digital cooperation, human rights and gender equality.

Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, made his U.N. debut at the summit, pledging that his administration is seeking to reduce inequality and empower women and youth. The country saw a wave of protests in 2022 and 2023 after the death of a young woman who died in police custody after being detained for not properly covering her head.

In New York, protesters gathered outside Pezeshkian’s hotel ahead of his speech. A large protest is planned on Tuesday before his address to the General Assembly’s annual debate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his turn at the podium to highlight Russia’s obstruction during the negotiations on the Pact for the Future.

“Ukraine supports efforts to keep all nations united, safe, and strictly adhere to the U.N. Charter,” he said. “And you all can see who stands against it, but also actively works to undermine global unity.”

In the final week of negotiations, Russia raised at least 15 different objections to elements of the text. As the assembly gathered to adopt the document on Sunday morning, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, backed by a handful of countries, tried to get an amendment added to the pact, but it was overwhelmingly rejected by other nations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to address the summit late Monday.

On Tuesday, the assembly’s annual debate kicks off. U.S. President Joe Biden will make his farewell U.N. address. The presidents of Brazil, South Africa, Iran and Nigeria will be among the speakers.

Afghan women

On the margins of the General Assembly meeting, Afghan women advocated for their rights at an event focused on the inclusion of women in the future of Afghanistan.

Last month, the Afghan Taliban enacted a “morality law” that further erodes the rights of women and girls. Its restrictions include a prohibition on Afghan women using their voices in public and orders them to completely cover their bodies and faces outdoors. Women are also forbidden from interacting with non-Muslims, using public transport alone, and looking at men who are not their husband or blood relative.

“To all male leaders, what if it were the reverse? How would you feel to be banned from existing in society?” asked Asila Wardak, the former director general of Human Rights and Women’s International Affairs in Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry.

Acclaimed American actor Meryl Streep participated in the panel. She noted that historically Afghanistan was ahead of even some Western nations in giving its women the right to vote, and it had many female civil servants, judges, lawyers, doctors and teachers.

“Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedoms than a woman,” she said. “A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because public parks are closed to women and girls by the Taliban.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that the Taliban immediately remove all the discriminatory restrictions against women and girls and reopen schools and universities to them. Currently, Afghan girls are only allowed to attend school until grade 6.

“We will never allow gender-based discrimination to become normalized anywhere in the world,” Guterres said.