World leaders will descend on NYC this week for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The objective will be to move beyond rhetoric and make progress on persistent and interconnected global challenges.

The theme of the 2024 UNGA is, "Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations."

A major highlight at UNGA will be the 'Summit of the Future,' where 5 thematic areas of critical importance to Africa will be robustly discussed.

The world today is much more different, complex, interconnected, and dependent than it was 80 years ago, when global leaders in Bretton Woods, NJ, developed a multilateral oversight system.

This week, serious discussions about re-designing the global table and reconfiguring the chairs and participants are long overdue.

Something must change.

Given the complexity of global challenges, including endemic unemployment and underemployment, inequality, economic distress, and a debt crisis, climate change and environmental degradation, and multiple conflicts and geopolitical tensions, UNGA and the 'Summit of the Future' could not have been more timely!

#Africa alone requires an estimated $1.3 trillion a year in investments to achieve the SDGs by 2030. That money is nowhere in sight!

Highly innovative financial solutions are needed.

So far, one of the standouts and globally applauded innovations, adopted by the IMF board, is an African Development Bank (AfDB) and InterAmerican Bank (IDB) -designed hybrid instrument that will allow the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to be channeled through multilateral development banks, given their leveraging power.

More innovative solutions are needed

To ensure UNGA2024 is not long on talk and short on actionable ideas and commitments, today's challenges call for deeper introspection and reflection. We must not push off into the future, what we must collectively deal with today

For example, the need for and recognition by several key Bretton Woods institutions, including the IMF and the World Bank, for even more visionary, proactive, and urgent reform of the global financial architecture is necessary. Palliative solutions cannot work in a dynamic global community moving at the speed of light.

There is also a compelling need for strong political among global leaders to modernize the #Security Council. Even though Africa is the largest regional bloc at the UN (with a little less than 30% of the votes), it does not hold a permanent seat at the Security Council.

Correcting these historical wrongs would be an acknowledgment of the urgent need for a more equitable, inclusive, and security-enhanced global community.

Global leaders must recognise in more than a cerebral way that Africa's significant place in a future that is already here, is irreversible!

I hope to see you in NYC.

Dr. Victor Oladokun is a senior global communications and media advisor.