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United Nations
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& the United Nations |
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We walk through marble halls with walls of glass and lights scattered like stars in the ceilings. Our guide shows us presents given to Headquarters by Member States-statues, paintings, historical treasures, and even the decorations of meeting rooms. We like the Trusteeship Council Chamber made of warm, pale wood; on one wall there is a statue of a figure releasing "the blue bird of freedom". Everywhere there seem to be circles-in the arrangement of meeting rooms' seating and, in the General Assembly, the huge gold insignia of the UN and the round dome encircled by more starry lights. Our guide explains that the circle stands for equality and unity. On many walls, pictures tell about various UN agencies and their work bettering people's lives. The guide reminds us that this is the UN's real work which is taking place all over the world. These buildings are just for meetings and planning. In some ways the buildings seem vast and impressive and make you aware that the United Nations is important to the world. But they are not cold and formal the way some government buildings are; there is warmth and variety in the shapes of the rooms and corridors, the carpets, the wall covering, the windows and the lighting. It all seems very human, as though to welcome "we, the peoples" of the United Nations.
The guide tells us we have to move quickly in order to see the room where the Security Council meets. The Council, which only meets when needed, has been called into session today to deal with an outbreak of violence between two countries and we must clear the room before the delegates arrive. In the Security Council chamber we see the horseshoe shaped table where the delegates will sit. We notice signs at the table for the UN SecretaryGeneral and the President. We are told that each member of the Council gets to serve at its President for a month at a time, rotating in English alphabetical order. There is a table at the centre of the horseshoe, where the UN rapporteurs who will be keeping a record of the meeting are already arriving. Along the walls we can see open booths where the media are assembling to photograph the proceedings. We also notice the booths where the interpreters have now arrived in preparation for the meeting. Behind our group, a UN security officer has now come to close the doors, a sign the meeting will begin soon and so it is time for us to move on. After lunch we buy postcards and beautiful UN stamps and mail them at the UN Post Office. Then a guide comes to take us to the screening room to see a film. On the way she lets us look into the radio rooms and press section where reporters from all over the world are now sending out news of the morning's Security Council meeting.
To go to the briefing which we requested, our guide takes us along one of the delegates' floors. We file past a guard and through doors marked "Push" and "Poussez". In the halls we see men and some women talking in small groups. We are disappointed that most seem to be wearing Western business-style clothing. However, from their faces we can tell that the majority are from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Occasionally a "squawk box" announces a message for someone. There is a huge board on one wall listing the meetings for today. We notice [Ad Hoc Committee Oil the Indian Ocean, International Law Cornrnission, Commission on Science and Technology for Development] and many other subjects we had not thought the UN would be considering. Our briefing room is one used for committee meetings. There is a window looking out onto a garden where delegates are strolling. At the table we sit behind are plaques bearing the names of Member States (including some for our own countries). We have a little time to talk over the questions we prepared and to suggest some new ones; we decide on two. Then a tall, thin, dark man hurries in. Our guide introduces him as our briefer and gives his name and a very long title. He says he is sorry to be late-something about the Secretary-General's leaving on a trip to Southeast Asia. He asks us a bit about ourselves, why we've come and what we think about the UN. His voice is deep and musical; he speaks to us in an informal, natural way. Then he asks if we have any questions about what we have seen today. We give the two we had selected: "What do you think the UN has really accomplished?" and "What kind of work do you do?" Our briefer says, "I'll talk about both your questions together, beginning with a story. Soon after I had come to the UN from Ecuador some thirty years ago, I met a school group rather like yours. They had visited the same parts of the UN buildings that you have, but they were also to have a special privilege: a visit with the President of the General Assembly. That year it was the delegate from India, Madame Pandit. We went up together to her office on the 38th floor of the Secretariat building. There I remember her saying to the class, 'When I was growing up in India, I read all the adventure stories I could find-books like Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island But now that I'm older and have come to the United Nations, I have discovered that the things that are really and truly happening in the world today are more amazing and more wonderful than any imaginary tales.' I too came to feel this, as I worked for the United Nations, first on projects in just about every part of the world and now on a job which gives me an overview of the work of all the UN specialized agencies. "When people ask me why I work for the UN, I usually just answer that I like the view. Actually I'm not talking about being able to watch the boats from different nations on the river below my office window. What I mean is that through my job I can see all the great changes sweeping the world today What then are they? "First there is the change in how we view the world; for the first time people can see it as a whole. Now that we know more about the environment and all the genetic links we can see the earth as a single physical system. We can also see human beings as a single race. We are aware that what happens in one part of the world affects everybody. People can also feel their links with those who lived before us and with those followin us. We can see more and more clearly what the world will be like when billions more are living o this earth and trying to share its limited resources. "The second change is the way we view people--each person's dignity and rights. It's no longer acceptable for the few powerful and rich to have all the privileges. Empires have given way to independent nations. Here we are trying to build economic and social systems which are fair to all people. Women, old people, young people, minorities-everyone should have a chance to ha-, a decent life. "The third change-in some ways the most amazing of all-is the way we are beginning to act as a world community. Of course, people haven't stopped competing with one another yet, but at least we are getting in the habit of cooperating. This, however, is the first time that we have had the means to act together. For many centuries people have dreamed about a united world. Some tried to bring it about by conquest; others by diplomacy or by leagues of like-minded countries. The 50 year-old United Nations, however, is the first workable global organization which people have managed to create. "At the UN, people don't just talk things over. All those delegates you saw in meeting rooms and in corridors were planning ways to make the world better. Then the governments and people at home and we in the Secretariat try to carry out these plans. "What do we hope to accomplish? Well, we actually dare to believe that it may be possible to do away with hunger, sickness, ignorance, even poverty and wars which have prevented people from living decent lives. "Naturally there's still a big gap between what people would like to do and what can be done now. For example, we know that we have the capability to grow enough food so no one will be hungry, but, to do this, improved techniques and better grains need to be spread to areas which are not producing at full capacity; waste must be eliminated and the produce shared fairly. And, of course, population can't be allowed to grow beyond what the earth can support. This takes a long time. "Besides our long-term programmes we have to deal with sudden disasters of all kinds, including outbreaks of ethnic violence in this last decade. We have survived many difficult crises but are learning that new, even greater ones lie ahead. "Of course, if the UN is to continue to evolve, we will need patience and commitment and skill learning as we go, being flexible, trying to use the best of the old and developing new ways as well. The future depends on what nations and people do. You may think that what your world organization is trying to do is just some idealistic dream. It isn't. Along with the difficulties there are accomplishments. When you discover more about these changes and what the UN is doing, I hope you may find, as I do, that what is happening is more fascinating than science fiction. Each day I learn about new work being tried out in different parts of the world. I can see the world changing, the community growing. "Don't think that all this is far-off. The United Nations is not this building or the Secretariat; it really is people-the people of the world. You are part of the UN and what you do in your life can help make the world better. When you go back to your school and home, do something needed in your community-something that interests you and work hard at it. It may seem to you that individual people can't make much difference but it is like a festival of lights: each person lights a candle and, behold, the whole night is ablaze. Your effort, multiplied by millions, makes a mighty force." |
