Thoughts on the U.N. General Assembly

I.

“…There is a persistent myth that peace is naive, that justice is sentimental, that the only real politics is the politics of power and self-interest. Peace is the most practical, the most courageous, the most necessary pursuit of all…”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened up the general debates at the 80th Session of the General Assembly with those words. In times when the U.N. is under pressure to reform and under scrutiny for its relevance and/or ability to address the most compelling issues of our time, I think that those perspectives are critical and worth revisiting.

Having had the opportunity to participate in several U.N.- affiliated side events that unfolded during the U.N. General Assembly High-Level Week, I heard many powerful narratives attesting to the centrality of human rights, the desire to involve civil society, as well as to support collective action. I heard concern for the legacy that will remain for future generations:

That the PACT for the Future is “a roadmap…an experiment…an innovation.” “A table for gathering.” That the PACT “should not be regarded as an endpoint, but a beginning of negotiations…” That “AI governance should be addressed.” That diverse sectors should engage in “a vision of an accelerated vision.” That the U.N. needs to move along more quickly and responsively, examining the roots of inequality and widening socioeconomic gaps that fuel international crises, that it is time for a woman to potentially assume the role of Secretary-General, that roadblocks to that process should be addressed, that “candidates should not be punished for being outspoken” and that “women’s leadership is not a symbolic process.”

In the face of searing international events, exploding wars, hunger–I could feel the fears of backlash, the paradoxes, the hopes that optimism could prevail in the face of a looming financial crisis for the institution, the desires for digital innovation, the intermittent despair.

Call me naive. Peace requires nuance. Hegemony does not. The United Nations still remains a place in which discussions can flourish, prevail. It is a place where participation in dialogue is encouraged against a silence that is often deadly when enforced. In my opinion, it is the silence that kills.