The United Nations General Assembly: What happens after the handshake?

By Dana Vyzinkarova

 

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On board a VIE-JFK flight in the beginning of October, I was going through my agenda for the next two weeks. Two special events gave me the before-exam feeling: having a speech in the third committee of the UN GA and meeting UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. I prepared flat elegant shoes to wear:  from conversations with previous youth delegates I had discovered his Excellency is somewhat sensitive to any notion of him being acknowledged as vertically challenged.

Youth delegates represent the voice of young people here at the UN GA. The program is run mostly by national youth councils and coordinated by the European Youth Forum. A youth delegate is chosen on demonstrated experience in youth work and his or her interest in global issues. An integral part of the program, as well as being an exciting challenge in itself, is delivering a statement to the General Assembly. While the topic is a personal choice, if you are prone to radical ideas, be aware that it has to be approved by your MFA. I wanted to use this opportunity to learn more about development and humanitarian aid hence I spent some months researching the topics, meeting relevant organizations (UNDP, Habitat for Humanity) and I interned at the Slovak MFA.

In New York, life goes pretty fast. I got a place at our Permanent mission, a delegates badge and voilà. With that, I was in the famous building of the UN headquarters. During the first hour, I made acquaintances from Singapore, sitting on my left, and Slovenia, on my right.

In my speech, I implored youth everywhere to get a basic knowledge of development, based on Slovakias current initiatives to implement such programs into official education curricula. This, I emphasized, would lead to every young person forming their own opinion on global issues. I must confess I made one diplomatic faux-pas in my address. I referred to the female chair as Mr. Chairman. Thankfully, she gave me a big understanding smile. I think she appreciated that I was nervous.

Mr. Ban came to say a few words to youth delegates on that day. The photographer informed us that we would have one shot only, so better not spoil it.

The rest of my two weeks were about working breakfasts, side events at different missions and emails with the latest drafts of resolutions and proposed amendments. Something that particularly stuck in my mind was an evening screening of a documentary by UNICEF, dealing with the plight of children of war, giving an insight into to Ugandas Lord Resistance Army.

 The word count limit for Polemics articles prevents me from describing all the planned and surprising meetings in great detail, but highlights included meeting Joseph Deiss, Michele Bachelet and Kofi Annan  yes-Kofi Annan on the way to the cafeteria.

Soon after, I headed to the Boston Book Festival, to listen to theorists and practitioners involved in development studies. Dambisa Moyo, originally from Zambia, former World Bank economist and my idol, gave a lecture entitled Talking about justice together with Amartya Sen, Nobel price laureate and renowned Harvard professor M. Sandel More people attended this event than they did the GA and they were not disappointed, it was a truly amazing experience, but unfortunately I did not get chance to talk to Ms. Moyo. Read her Dead Aid if you are interested in development and Africa. There is some talk about her being a visionary in the field.

Take a minute to find out - through Google, Youth Councils websites or simply email me -whether your country sends out youth delegates. It is a unique oportunity to see the UN in action and try out the work of your Permanent Mission.

 

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