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KAMPALA - Uganda has raised concern about the rising geopolitical polarisation, noting that this is distracting focus on issues including climate change and terrorism that are of mutual benefit to citizens of the world.

Foreign affairs ministry permanent secretary Vincent Waiswa Bagiire says "inconvenient truths should concern us all" if the planet is to avoid a crisis.

Citing large-scale conflicts involving major powers, including between Ukraine and Russia, Bagiire said these are escalating for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

"In 2022, even before the conflict in the Middle East and African regions,  1.2 billion people or 15 per cent of the world population were affected, " he said, adding that the conflicts are causing untold suffering including mounting civilian deaths and economic distress.

According to him, as a result of the conflicts many multinational companies have, for example, shifted profits to tax havens, and the volume of the amount shifted rose to as much as one trillion dollars in 2022, resulting in local losses in tax revenue.

"Amidst all this, international co-operation is being polarised," he said, adding that Uganda strongly subscribes to the view that calls for multilateral systems that work for all leaving no one behind.

Bagiire added that in this regard, at the Summit of Future held in New York on September 21, 2023, Uganda outlined the need for multilateralism in addressing issues that cut across communities such as hunger, climate change, conflicts, and terrorism, adding that these are impediments to international trade and commerce and cyber security.

"We call for the reform of multilateral institutions, and governance structures, particularly the United Nations Security Council and the international financial institutions in respect to their architecture, " he said.

He was speaking on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, during the national launch of the 2022-2023 Human Development Report under the theme: Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Co-operation in a Polarised World.

Organised by the United Nations Development Programme, the event took place at Makerere University and was attended by several stakeholders including government officials, civil society, academia, and the general public.