Political Plotting and UN Commissions

Sustainable Development is a term that has many definitions but not in the UN system...at least not a holistic and strong one. This year, the Youth Caucus (that I had the great privilege of being part of) had one of their Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) lobby points requested a definition that included political, social and environmental consequences caused by human economic activities.

This years Commission focuses on the thematic areas   of SCP, mining, transport, chemicals,waste, the 10yr framework and cross cutting issues.However, CSD-18 has an added bonus for me....my opportunity to actively participate in the Major Working Group of Children and Youth. As part of this, I am very involved in the Youth Caucus that essentially is the driving force behind this Major Group. I was absorbed into this talented, intelligent, involved and highly participatory group during the Youth Blast held at Columbia University the weekend before the Commission began. At that event, we decided on our lobby points, and drafted a final version of them so that we could present them over the coming week. We also were briefed on what to do, expect and how our Major Group would work.

Since the CSD-18 has begun, it has been a blur of drafting statements / lobby strategies / speeches, reading statements to identify gaps / our points / cross cutting issues, lobbying, meetings and fun!!! I have never before worked simultaneously with up to 40 youth  (well, usually 10) on a document at the exact same time from different locations (we tend to use pirate pad and each have our own color. Yet amazingly we end up with a coherent, unified, and interesting statement (or conclusion).

I have been learning a lot. I am constantly collaborating with young people from all over the world (five continents), with different backgrounds (NGOs to students to consultants), goals, and functions (official youth delegates, NGO staff, etc) at the Commission. This year I got to meet with the head of the Belgium delegation to discuss SCP informally. I had the opportunity to listen to Jane Goodall and Jeffery Sachs discuss Global Governance. I watched "Counting Down from Zero" and saw Michael Douglas in real life. I got invited to lunch by members of the Kenyan and Tanzanian delegation and joined the major working group of trade unions as an observer.

I feel like I am learning a phenomenal amount from the other youth-- I have learnt to draft statements fast! (often during a session), to accept mistakes will be made, how to lobby, who to lobby, why to lobby and how to measure lobby effectiveness. I am experiencing the thrill of hearing our words being absorbed into official UN documents / statements.

There is one week left. We are over half way done. I can feel the pressure but this is why I studied politics, I want to be challenged...I love this environment of ideas, creativity, new everything and working together on an amazing team towards a common goal--advocating for change!