There is a lot said about the UN, which is good, because there is a lot to be said about the UN. It’s a pity that the news is usually so negative. We’ve all heard the usual rants, that the UN is useless, a self-indulgent talk-fest that is the will of powerful countries, and leads to absolutely nothing on the ground.

Certainly there is an element of that – It would be hard to find anybody who could effectively dispute at least some of those claims. As I’ve written before, this has been a great source of frustration, and a touch of reality checking, for me. To have an organisation built for people(s) (and even this is constantly debated within the UN), so close to governments and so far away from the people, seems nonsensical.

I can’t tell you the number of times I wondered how resolution debate over whether to “welcome” or “take note of” or “take note with appreciation of” a given report, actually helps the people I (am privileged to) work with in the Child Protection system of Western Australia. Or how it is helping my Gran, or my mate, or the billions of people I have never met in our world.

However, and this is the biggest however of them all, it is an organisation set up purely for the betterment of our world. There is no other reason for its existence.

When I was showing my parents (who came to visit me in NYC) around the UN, Dad said to me, “no matter who you are, it is pretty hard to disagree with the ideals of the UN.” And he’s right. Read the charter of the UN written in 1945. It is still as relevant, and beautiful, today as it was then.

However (another BIG however), it is an organisation setup for the betterment of our world, but based in the REALITY of our world. The reality is that our world is made up of countries with different views, opinions, backgrounds, national interests, hopes, dreams… everything!
As frustrating as it is at the UN, it’s wonderful as well. If we all thought the same and spoke the same and looked the same, it’d be an awfully boring world. The problem is that it is the differences which make our world so wonderful, that also create the biggest challenges.

One thing I think I’ve learnt, and it’s been a harsh truth to learn, is that the world is not ideal, or utopic. And as the UN is not an entity in itself, but merely a forum for the 191 member states, the UN is not ideal or utopic either. There will be waste of time, money, resources, whatever. There will be disagreements. There will be dead ends.

But what is so important about the UN, is that just with its existence, there is always hope. I’m not talking about “hope” as in “our world is a terrible place it needs to be saved….ra ra ra ra”, but rather that anything is possible.

There is a need for the UN, and there always, always will be. The famous saying goes – “if the UN didn’t exist, then we would have to invent it”. Having been so blessed to have been a part of the UN process for a short while, I believe that never a truer word has been spoken.

For me the symbolism of 191 countries sitting together in one room, discussing the future of our world together, despite so many overt and acknowledged differences, is enough alone to warrant the existence of such a wonderful organisation. It is enough to acknowledge, even permit some of the frustrating things that occur at there.

Countries may currently be waging vicious war. I have never seen hate like that which exists between Palestine and Israel, and many others. I’m lucky to be naive enough not to comprehend or understand such hate. But they are all still at the UN. Because of the UN’s existence, they all have people permanently stationed in New York and Geneva working on it. That tells me that whatever happens, there are always possibilities.

There is nothing else like that.

It is also enough for all of us to rejoice, because it is also a forum that enables young people to share with world leaders what it’s like to be a young person in their country.

I suppose I thought that going to the UN, was like reaching the pinnacle of being able to help people. I understood that it is the UN that makes the changes in our world. Once I’m there, then the changes can begin. I was very, very wrong.

The UN is run by governments, and I will never let anyone tell me different. The UN will only do things if governments want it to. FRUSTRATING! What this has taught me is that the UN is not the starting point for change, it is the end.

Things don’t begin at the UN, they are copied from small communities or small projects that, through sheer willpower, local knowledge and courage, have succeeded in making changes locally. Then a government takes notice, and then suddenly the country is advocating a position at the United Nations.

The starting point is my own community. Who knows where the end point is. I finish at the UN so impassioned by this belief.