UNHRC

Well today was the second day of the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Counsel, and was supposed to be the day that we would be hearing meetings on children in armed conflict and on child pornography, sale and prostitution, but a lesson to all of you, even the UN has time management issues.

It all started yesterday, Heidi and I got to the UN gates nice and early around 8:30 AM to get our badges and get through security and we were ready and waiting inside the UN compound at 9:20ish. The doors to the room where the council was taking place opened at 9:3o, so we went inside and took our seats expecting the meeting to start at 10 AM, oh how we were mistaken. After waiting 3 hours (the time the meeting was supposed to last for) and staring aimlessly at the breathtaking ceiling (literally, its a magnificent work of art donated by Spain) we were informed by another NGO sitting next to us that the meeting was delayed all because of Honduras. There was a coup in Honduras this past June and some how the UN accredited both groups (the former and current governments) to attend the meeting, needless to say they didn't see eye to eye on who actually would be able to go, and on top of that the rest of Latin and South America had their own opinions so we had to wait until it was 6 AM east coast time so the UN in Geneva could call the UN in NYC to get legal advice. Not exactly the start we were anticipating. Because of the lack of time we got to hear an advisor from Sri Lanka, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and Affairs from the US speak and then the princess of Thailand. A 3 hour wait for a total of 40 minutes of speeches. Once the first part of the meeting was done we ate lunch in the UN Cafeteria and went back to the office to spend the rest of the day and report back to our boss.

Because things were so pushed back the first day, today's agenda was completely changed. The first meeting of the day (which was supposed to be children in armed conflict) ended up being the high commissioner's statements (which you can find online and are really great) and then about 30 countries who had signed up got to speak for up to 3 minutes about their country's views and place in human rights. Essentially this turned into every country from Nigeria, Norway, USA, France, Russia to Qatar assuring the Human Rights Council that they indeed like and practice human rights within their perspective nations. These soon all blended together (besides France bringing up gay & transgender rights) until it was China's turn to speak. Well the High Commissioner of the HRC had mentioned the ethnic strife going on in China so the Chinese got mad, instead of talking about how they love human rights like the rest of the delegates these delegates accused the commissioner of alternative motives, working with groups who are against China and blamed the recent outbursts on people who are trying to take down the country....this is when I realized for once and for all, that China is a little loony.

After the statements we had a two hour break for lunch which was spent eating at the cafeteria (but because we're American we finish about an hour and a half before any of the Europeans) and then roaming the UN with our badges proudly displayed. We went back to the room for the second meeting of the day and it was delayed, this we have come to expect. We stayed in the meeting for around an hour before heading downstairs to a side event, the UN meeting on Trade and Development was hosting a lecture from Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs. I have been a HUGE fan a Sachs since seeing him in a video in one of my political science classes my freshman year of college. Let me paint the scene for you: He grew up in Detroit, Michigan went to Harvard where he got his undergrad, grad and ph.d degrees, became the youngest Harvard professor with tenure ever and then went on to help plan the economies of Bolivia, Poland..... and so on. He also is in his mid-fifties but resembles a 12 year old boy and giggles about politics and the economy, needless to say I'm in love.

Before we entered the room the woman at the front door said to sit "where ever you please" Heidi and I took this as an invitation to play "which country do you want to be", since the country signs are in French and Heidi wanted to be America (en Français etats-unis) we sat in the "E" section with her in the US's spot and I was in Ethiopia's. A couple of minutes after sitting down two men come up behind me and ask me "If I'm going to be representing them today", yes they were the delegates from Ethiopia. So of course I apologize and they laugh and tell me to stay put and sit behind me, but also warn me that if they're asked questions I'll have to speak for them. After some further joking I gave them back their seat and slumped back to the back of the room forever shamed as the intern who actually thought she could sit in Ethiopia's chair, I'm just happy that they were so friendly, I have a feeling that other states like....Russia or Algeria would not have been as happy to find a random intern in their spot.

Back to Sachs's speech, it was about the global economy's relationship to environmental change. He discussed the need for sustainable development and how fragile the Earth is. The man is so brilliant that his lecture terrified and inspired me beyond explanation. His basic point was that if we don't profoundly change how we interact with technology and attempt to stabilize the world's population, we will destroy the Earth beyond repair which is currently happening. Obviously when he discussed this it was much more articulate and filled with crazy facts but it's honestly too emotionally draining to read and type them out. Something big needs to happen and we need to change our attitude towards the economy and development or by 2050 we will be in big, BIG, irreversible trouble. (Note to self: Change world).

Needless to say after the lecture and questions following it up, we were pretty drained and emotional, remember since we're interns, like idiots, we still have feelings, so we decided to stop at a pub on the way home and discuss the day over a pint. I'm honestly not sure how people do this everyday, in ways it's so compelling and in other ways its the most draining thing I've ever been through. I can only hope that tomorrow I'll be a little tougher and will be able to get through the meetings without getting all caught up in the atrocities and problems of the world. I guess it'll be easier because I won't have a brilliant professor lecturing me on the end of society, perils of the developing world and how if we really cared, we could save it all.