Voices – as the UN turns 80

One early evening before the UN high level week, across the UN headquarters stood a handful of protesters with placards that read, “Children are dying of hunger in Gaza.”  By the pocket park beside the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, a group of rallyists held a “Free Iran” banner.  For the second time after 54 years, since it was first played inside the august hall of the General Assembly on Oct. 24, 1971, the UN Chamber Music Society solemnly performed the “Hymn to the United Nations.”

While the music echoed across the hall to open “Living Legacy,” an event marking the 80th anniversary of the UN, I wished the soothing melody would reach Gaza, Ukraine, Haiti, Sudan, Myanmar and countries where forgotten wars still rage. Born in Burma (now Myanmar), the first Asian UN Secretary General, U Thant, had the hymn composed in time for the 26th anniversary of the UN. At that moment, I wished the lyrics penned by the British-American poet W.H. Auden and set to music by the great Catalan cellist and composer, Pablo Casals, had the power to end wars. “Where all are brothers, none faceless others,” as a line from the song goes.

In his keynote, UN Secretary General António Guterres recognized “the UN is alive” in every peacekeeper, artist, diplomat who chooses discourse over dispute and in the “quiet persistence” of women and men who refuse to give up. For Annalena Baerbock, UNGA president, “the UN matters to ordinary people.” She recalled a recent NY Times story of a lost postcard sent by a high school student who visited the UN headquarters 72 years ago, which found its way back to the sender in Idaho. One million people visit the UN every year and this resonates to me because when family and friends come to New York, I invite them to visit the UN. More than just a building and a huge art gallery, I look upon the UN as a place that pulsates with history, where the most compassionate and brightest of minds meet in their enduring pursuit for peace, dignity and solidarity.

Has the UN become irrelevant? A New York Times article, quoting an interview of Pope Leo XIV, mentions how on his first month as pope, he met with world leaders to discuss the challenges of multinational cooperation. The article cites the pontiff’s perception about a UN that “has not been functioning well at convening nations to solve problems.” I understand the pope’s sentiments, especially now when war still rages in many nations and the world is in the cusp of a more treacherous war versus unregulated technology.

Yet on the night when the hubby and I sat at the GA hall listening to the impassioned voices of SecGen Guterres and the women and men who have dedicated and relentlessly devoted their service and life to the UN, I was convinced the only organization that brings together all the nations of the world is not and will never be irrelevant.

It’s the same conviction I felt as I watched the live webcast of the opening ceremony of the UN high-level week.  SecGen Guterres, GA President Baerbock, Ellen Johnson Sierleaf (Liberia’s first female president), Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway’s first and three-term female prime minister) and our very own Nobel peace laureate Maria Ressa delivered their undiluted assessment of where our world stands right now.

SecGen Guterres said we are at a time when “the principes of the UN are under assault” because of wars, poverty, a planet searing and drowning and “our sustainable development goals faltering.”  When he shifted to French, one of the UN’s official languages, he called for the “eradication of smallpox, prevention of a third world war, stop the militarization of outer space” and to address the burning issue of climate change. The SecGen sees the need to not only defend but transcend and renew the foundations of the UN.

How notable it is that on these occasions women took centerstage. Liberia’s Ms. Sierleaf spoke of extreme violence in Africa. From despair to hope, she recalled how multilateral cooperation worked when the largest peacekeeping forces of the UN joined her country’s armies toward peacekeeping missions, with Liberia eventually standing on its feet. For her, the UN will always be “a place of peace, refuge, unity and hope.”

Growing up with parents who were part of the Nazi resistance, Dr. Brundtland’s earliest memories of Sweden were in refugee camps where her parents worked. A champion of gender equality, she told of how the UN worked methodically to empower women in areas of finance, education and reproductive rights. As an advocate for the environment, she “accepted with humility and helped cement the concept of sustainable development in our collective consciousness.” For those who dismiss the UN as outdated, Dr. Brundtland counters, “The UN is our common hub where debating is more important than ever.”

I felt the supremacy of Ms. Ressa’s message when she spoke about fighting against the “biggest battle” of impunity. Drawing from experiences of how her rights as a journalist were curtailed under the Duterte administration, her voice cracked as she revealed, “Until today, I still need Supreme Court permission to be here. But I’m here.” She warned that “we are living through an information armageddon.” Citing a disturbing fact that “72 percent of the world is under authoritarian rule,” Ms. Ressa thinks the solution is to not discard multilateralism but rather to strengthen it.

As Ms. Ressa compellingly delivered her address, the camera panned to our country seat for about three times, where our DFA Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro and the Philippine delegation sat. Ms. Ressa reminded the crowd, we live in a time of “creative destruction” and implored world leaders to “end big tech impunity through global accountability; build alternative infrastructure for trust and create and invest in comprehensive solutions.” She concluded with a plea to “choose courage over comfort, facts over fiction, hope over fear.”