A rearview mirror reflection of UNGA#79 and the Summit of the Future

#UNGA79 wraps today, and certainly having the #SummitOfTheFuture #SOTF this year added so much to the ‘normal’ order of business. This was one of the busier #UnitedNations (UN) General Assemblies for me, because the substance of the Pact of the Future has direct relevance to the UNICEF Innovation work I lead on Innovation Nodes, which is work that explores and unlocks the possibilities of emerging science, technology and innovation (STI) for children. Like many in the multilateral sector, our groundwork towards the Summit and Pact began many months ago, not least in DESA STI Forum and our contributions to it. The Pact’s Actions 28-33 are both reinforcement to the work we have underway, as well as a call to significantly strengthen it and science-policy-society interfaces, especially with young people.?

But this post is not about substance. It’s a lighter side take of the past week. Here goes…

Don’t take New Yorkers’ #UNGA complains too seriously.

It’s a local sport to start the complaining in advance of the start of UNGA. The traffic is a total mess! The hotel rates are unethically stratospheric! Restaurants are crowded! Getting a taxi / Lyft / Uber is both impossible and impossibly surcharged. The bus is a disaster. Stores from luxury retailers to purveyors of bare essentials are overcrowded! Any movement on Manhattan is a mess! It’s UNGAGridlock!?

All true.?

And it’s not just the city blocks of road closures around the United Nation’s Headquarters itself, but the checkpoints, detours and security cordons that have to be put in place on designated routes around the city for the motorcades of presidents and prime ministers going back and forth between the UN General Assembly, their Permanent Mission to the UN, and wherever they are residing. ?

Also true, is that it’s a wonderfully unique humble bragging opportunity for New Yorkers. “I’m late as I was held in place on the sidewalk because of the #POTUS mortorcade.” (You might have to clarify which one, as POTUSes past and present were in town this week along with multiple #FLOTUSes.) Whining residents should also bear in mind that the city’s iconic global status is burnished by this annual ritual that literally brings the leaders of 193 Member States to Manhattan, along with injecting billions of dollars into the New York economy. You’re welcome.?

Local knowledge rules

Other events might have you mental mapping your way around, say, the 3 million square feet of the Javits Convention Centre, for this you need to expand your mind mapping. The 2.5 million square feet of the UN Headquarters is just one of dozens of locations all across the island of Manhattan you’ll need to navigate within and between. A staff member’s navigational knowledge of UNHQ has never been as valuable — you can avoid queuing for the staffed elevators if you know your way around the staircases. As for how long it might take or if it is even feasible to make it between events at Columbia University, Wall Street, the numerous midtown convening venues and the UN itself… the subway is your friend, and be generous in your transit estimates. Other than walking or biking, anything on the roads is anyone’s guess.

Not for the faint of #FOMO-hearted

If you suffer from Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) then you probably need an UNGA whisperer. (Props to the best one I know -- Ms. Palmer.) Multiply and apply the tactics you’ve honed at every large event from MWC, SLUSH, LEAP, SXSX and Sundance, to Coachella, COP and CES. Insert diplomats, policy wonks, development pros, CEOs, scientists and keep the celebrities. Mix in multiple platforms, processes, passes, and gatekeepers — because the ones for UNGA are totally different for CGI and every other convening per the convener. Choose based on substance and you’re ready for the week.?

What to wear

If there is any place where cultural appropriation would be especially inappropriate, this is it. Equally, UNGA is a wonderful celebration of wearing your culture and appreciating that of others. On a much more practical basis, you’ll be doing more than your 10,000 daily steps, so comfortable footwear is a must. (And many is the subtle footwear change that happens.) #ClimateWeek brings an extra opportunity to wear your virtue. (Hello Vejas.)

The kindness of strangers

Believe in it. Networking is expected, so talk to strangers. Value equally the person who answers your question about what they do, whether she turns out to be an individual activist or the CEO of a billion dollar company. Be social in helping someone you don’t know to turn an awkward selfie or ussie into a memorable photo, and tag generously in your socials.?

Pause for patisserie

Finally, the Paris Olympics had its chocolate muffin moment, and while it’s probably not going to cause a run on decorated sugar cookies, a UN-themed cookie is a cool way to get your sugar rush as you yourself rush from one event to another. Available from various coffee shops in UNHQ.

Until next year then. See you at #UNGA80 ;0) ?