Summit of the Future Reflections
During the 79th General Assembly, the United Nations is hosting a “once in a generation opportunity” event called the Summit of the Future. The purpose of this high level and historic event is to build a new agreement on how our global system can adapt to more effectively address the needs of present and future generations. had the honors of attending the Summit of the Future action days which focused on “multi stakeholder partnerships and action paving a way towards the next chapter of multilateralism that is more inclusive and networked” ahead before the formal opening of the Summit of the Future. I had the privilege and the honor to serve as a Youth Delegate as a part of the UNA-USA delegation. I attended the Intergenerational UN dialogue event and both action days where I got to meet global leaders, diplomats, ambassadors, non governmental organizations and other passionate driven young people like me hoping to make a tangible difference in the world.
Day 0:
The day before Summit of the Future Action Days started, I attended UNA-USA “The Global Future from an Intergenerational American Progress event”. I got to hear from Stefanie Amadeo, Director of Economic and Development Affairs from the US Department Of State during the “Sustainable development and financing for development” segment who works directly within the United Nations. She had encouraged the idea for reforming the security and referenced Ambassador Thomas Greenfield Remarks on the U.S stances on security council reform. Amadeo, highlighted her excitement for the Summit of the Future specifically the action days and mentioned that the U.S along with the U.N member states must demonstrate re-commitment to the U.N charter. Furthermore we also got to hear from Deanna Bitetti, the Head of External Relations and Communication at the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency who participated in a conversation with UNA-USA Youth Observer, Oscar Armando Lopez III where the both discussed the five chapters from the Pact of the Future. This conversation was highly insightful as I got to learn more about how diplomacy and global governance can impact the lives of refugees. For instance, for chapter 4, Youth and Future Generations, Deanne discussed the importance of uplifting young refugees through developing platforms, ensuring inclusive youth engagement and building accessibility for youth refugees to get involved with civic engagement and governance such as the Global Refugee Forum. Overall, this event was a great starter ahead of the Action Days and I was provided great insight into global governance, security and how youth can get involved with advocacy strengthening our future.
Day 1:
For Action Day 1, our delegation met up before the general assembly discussing our expectations and excitement (along with taking many photos of course!). The main theme for the first Action Day was “#YouthLead” focusing on youth activism and young people. We attended the opening ceremony, where the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres took part in two different youth-led panels discussing the importance of including youth in government and advisory boards. We also got to hear from incredible youth activists from around the world working on advocacy projects ranging from education to gender justice to indigenous rights. After the opening ceremony, we got to attend the different main sessions and programming. I was able to attend two main “#YouthLead” sessions along with a side event. The first event, I attended was the “#YouthLead: Intergenerational Solidarity and Equity for a Shared Future” which included different segments and panels discussing a wide range of topics from volunteerism to health and wellbeing to developing a new agenda that prioritizes intergenerational collaboration and youth empowerment.
The main takeaways from this session:
1) youth representation must be prioritized. Member states should be encouraged to select young people in their delegations. Governments should also consider developing advisory boards for youth and partnering with civil societies to develop programs for youth.
2) We must reform how we measure GDP and international financial architectures. We must consider our economic infrastructure and how it can support youth, invest into intergenerational caregiving and educational training programs empowering youth.
3) We must prioritize intergenerational solidarity through policy work and through volunteerism we are able to listen to older generational stories. The second main session I had attended was #YouthLead: Innovative solutions in humanitarian action.
This session also included multiple segments of panels and mainly focused on refugee humanitarian organizations and children rights organizations such as UNICEF and how multiple stakeholders are involved to better provide humanitarian support for youth. It was especially enlightening to hear from youth-led refugee advocacy and humanitarian organizations, understanding the perspectives of youth leaders taking initiative towards addressing the crisis impacting displaced youth.
The last event I attended was a side event called “Envisioning Our Peace: Youth Voices on Nuclear Weapons, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and the Climate Crisis” where I was able to hear from global leaders and young activists involved with the global disarmament movement. It was great hearing from Alei Rizvi, the Deputy Director of Reverse the Trend discuss more about including youth in advocacy work advocating against nuclear weapons and providing youth a platform to speak up against Nuclear Weapons. I also got to hear from the folks from Soka Gakkai International, Youth for the TPNW, Future Action Festival Organizing Committee and Coalition in abolishing nuclear weapons, a coalition that received a Nobel Peace Prize for their advocacy efforts.
Day 1 was closed out with remarks from Youth Rapporteur reporting from each main session and providing their recommendations to the Deputy Secretary General, Amina J. Mohammed who also provided her closing remarks encouraging young people in the room to take up leadership positions. We also got to hear from Felipe Paullier, the first Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs (I managed to get a photo with him!).
Day 2: For Day 2, we were welcomed again by the U.N Secretary General who delivered his speech encouraging reforms for our global governance system in order to preserve and protect our future. The main programming I had attended was the Peace Future For All Sessions which included multiple segments addressing peacebuilding, dismantling Patriarchal Power Structures, countering terrorism, protecting civilians in conflict areas specifically urban settings and the global disarmament movement. These sessions were very insightful and provided me a better perspective in understanding peacekeeping, engaging with public policy to address cluster munitions, understanding how we can urge global leaders and elected officials to address violence, developing a framework to protect displaced impacted civilians in conflict zones and establishing youth prevention programming, training and educational resources such as toolkits and curriculum templates. Incredible speakers throughout the sessions included Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Juan Maunel Santos, the Former President of Colombia who helped develop the peace agreement with the armed forces of Colombia, Khaleda Popal, Afghan Football Player and Women Rights Activist and Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs. I also got to attend one side event which was “Reforming the UN Security Council for an Equal and Sustainable Future”. This event was brought by Oxfam and included a few panelists of speakers such as Ibrahim Gambari, the Former Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria who served on the U.N Security Council. This event brought a lot of attention towards how we can reform the U.N security council and as this is such a critical part of strengthening our global governance, a main theme of the Summit Of The Future. The closing ceremony included remarks from the Deputy Secretary General, Amina J. Mohammed, the Prime Minister from Barbados, President of the Republic of Namibia, Mr. Nagolo Mbumba, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo and finally the President of the 79th Session of the General Assembly, Philemon Yang.
Closing remarks: Overall, this event was extremely informative and has allowed me to better understand diplomacy, the how United Nations functions and provided insights into how I can expand my advocacy efforts on a local, national and global level addressing refugee rights, disarmament and youth empowerment. As an aspiring immigration and international human rights lawyer, this event has empowered me to continue my activism and using my voice as a critical tool towards fighting for a better future.
