The Permanent Mission of Samoa to the United Nations is pleased to announce the launch of the Voices of Multilateralism Initiative, an Ambassadorial-led effort to capture, preserve, and pass forward the lived experience of those who have served at the heart of diplomacy. The Initiative was formally launched today at the inaugural meeting of its Founding Group (Barbados, Benin, European Union, Germany, Guyana, New Zealand, Singapore, Tajikistan, Vietnam and Samoa) held at the Commonwealth Joint Office in New York, bringing together a coalition of Permanent Missions committed to establishing and stewarding the Initiative from concept to practice. 

Initiated by H.E. Ambassador Fatumanava Pa'olelei Luteru, Permanent Representative of Samoa to the United Nations, the Voices of Multilateralism responds to a structural gap in the multilateral system. The knowledge that Permanent Representatives and senior diplomats accumulate through years of negotiation (how consensus is built, how trust is formed across political divides, and how the international system moves in practice) is among the system's most valuable assets and among its least systematically preserved. When diplomats conclude their service, that knowledge too often departs with them. 

The Voices of Multilateralism Initiative seeks to change that. Its main objectives are: 

•  To capture and curate the accumulated experience of departing diplomats through a biannual curated collection of written reflections and structured dialogues, transforming knowledge that would otherwise be lost into a shared resource for the diplomatic community.
• To transmit practitioner knowledge to future generations through a university engagement program of guest lectures, teaching engagements, and mentorship, developing over time toward a practitioner-in-residence model. 
• To sustain a living network of former and current Permanent Representatives through a dedicated digital platform and a podcast series that bring diplomatic experience into ongoing exchange and to broader audiences.
• To support UN reform by grounding the UN80 process and broader institutional renewal in an accurate, experience-based understanding of how multilateral processes function from the inside. 

At today's meeting, the Founding Group agreed on its initial governance modalities and working method, established a focal-point network across participating Missions and confirmed the workstreams for the Initiative's launch phase, including the identification of a first cohort of contributing diplomats and the constitution of an Editorial Board ahead of the inaugural publication, expected later this year. 

The Permanent Mission of Samoa serves as the convening Mission during the launch phase. The knowledge held by those who have served the multilateral system is a shared asset, belonging not to any single delegation or region but to the international community as a whole. Member States wishing to associate themselves with the Initiative, whether as contributors, institutional partners, or supporters of its longer-term development, are warmly invited to do so. 

All correspondence relating to the Initiative may be directed to the Permanent Mission of Samoa to the United Nations at samoa@samoanymission.ws or (212) 599-6196.

Voices of Multilateralism Initiative | Permanent Mission of Samoa to the United Nations | New York, 2026