Our visit to the United Nations was interesting. Both of us were unsure about the real intentions and goals of the United Nations, due to mainstream media. We both were able to take a little bit more away from the presentations.
It became clear that they are mostly a intermediary between countries, attempting to bridge the gap to achieve goals. We believe the UN's goals are noble, but the lack of control with how they are implemented is an area for opportunity and improvement.
With so many differing governments around the world, it is impossible to get anything done. It is a constant cycle where governments and countries can't completely agree. What the UN aims to do is create a forum where these countries can somewhat join together and be on the same page. As we learned in the UNCINTRAL lecture, they do not aim to create universal law. Instead, they work to create guidelines that most countries can agree to work with. Through this, UN is more able to act as a connection point, instead of a governing body.
Another surprisingly point we were able to take away was in regards to the role the UN plays in environmental protection. Climate change and plastic pollution has been a very hot topic lately. A large part in combating this is investment in research and development and innovation. We were surprised to learn the the UN plays very little role in actually conducting this research. Instead, they encourage countries to create innovation and combat this problem all together. This is great, but in such a dire situation, we need more direct action.
Overall, our UN visit was quite informative.
Is there anything that surprised you during this visit? How do you think the UN could better achieve their goals?
- xoxo,
EJ
EJ
Hey guys, thanks for the post. We’re glad to hear that you learned as much as we did! I think the biggest surprise for us was the lack of employees that UNCITRAL and UNEP have. UNCITRAL has 12 lawyers and UNEP has just as small of an office as well. With these segments having major implications on international affairs, it was shocking to see that only a handful of people work on these issues for the UN. Additionally, it was quite interesting to see some of what the UN does through UNCITRAL, UNEP, and others at Vienna centre. We listen all the time in lectures to what the UN does, but we were finally able to experience a small part of what they do and made it real for us. The UN was no longer just a topic of conversation, but rather a reality for us students.
ReplyDeleteThe UN is in a tough position with achieving their goals as the vast majority of actions need to be taken by member countries. What we think the UN should continue to do is to market and find strategies to help convince or encourage member countries to follow through on their commitments to the SDGs. The challenge will be to find strategies that do not come across as interfering in states’ sovereignty. Perhaps releasing case studies or materials showing successful cases of states, companies, or people helping achieve some of the SDGs would help further the UN’s mandate of achieving all the goals.
I think something we can all agree on is that each one of us should do what we can to help make the SDGs come to fruition. Even something small can go a long way!
-Stephanie & Michael