While the high-level performers who participated in the Olympics and Paralympics had won their credentials through merit, what merit can the elites attending the UNGA in New York claim?
As the Paris Olympics (and Paralympics) end in Europe, another gathering is starting in New York that will bring together representatives from 193 of the world’s 195 countries.
Like the Olympics, it’s a gathering of elites, but this group isn’t here to compete, nor were they selected for their performance or because they are the best in their field.
Like Paris, downtown New York will grind to a halt as streets are blocked to accommodate country delegations. The city is thrown into commuter chaos as security protocols for participants – our leaders – are rolled out across Manhattan.
In the next few weeks the global development world, eager to rub shoulders with the powerful, will gather for high-level meetings, private invite-only events, launches and cocktails parties, all in an attempt to improve the world.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is one of six organs of the UN and provides a platform for member states to deliberate on global issues and create the policies that should hold the world together. But with the world in turmoil one can only wonder what real impact this year’s 78th convening will have.
Some things have changed over the years: the new powers China, Russia, India,
Turkey and the Gulf States will vie with the establishment. Africa’s leaders will speak stridently about how they are no longer benefic-iaries but partners in their own development.
But many things will remain the same. On the one hand African leaders will demand a seat at the table as equals and on the other hand, throw out development terms like ‘reparations’, ‘climate justice’, ‘loss and damage’ and ‘fair share’ to cleverly mask their requests for charity to solve their ongoing education, job creation and health challenges.
The SDGs, which the UN designed in 2015 to address global challenges and ambitiously fix them by 2030, will be central to the public conversations. We will be reminded that with six years to go, we are no closer to meeting the ambitious targets, and neither do we have the funding to do so. Much will be said about their importance, but nothing will really change.
Everyone will notice the lack of women in key positions of power – especially amongst the Africans, where the unnecessarily large delegations consist mainly of men (in ill-fitting suits).
In Africa, there are only two women Presidents in office today and sadly, neither President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia or Samia Saluhu Hassan of Tanzania were elected into position by their own populations.
At some point Africa’s youth will be mentioned – the same old demographic data will be shared in new soundbites, which won’t change the fact that the median age on the continent is just 19.
Where are the youth?
At side events, development organisations will call for better youth representation in the places where it matters. Panel discussions will be had on the need for action to address this ‘youth quake’, the ‘ticking time bomb’, or the ‘potential asset’.
Yet the youth are rarely in the rooms where the decisions are made. The average age of leaders across the world is 62 – and then there are the Presidential outliers like Joe Biden of the US who is 81, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, 80, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, 80, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, 82, and Paul Biya of Cameroon, who at 91 is the world’s oldest President in a country where the median age is just 17.9 years.
Our history shows us that real change comes from the young and fearless. Nelson Mandela was just 26 when he became head of the African National Congress (ANC), Patrice Lumumba became the first democratically elected President of Congo at age 36. At age 39, Julius Nyerere became Prime Minister of Tanzania and at 40 the visionary pan-African leader, Kwame Nkrumah founded his own party that led to him becoming the first Prime Minister of Ghana at independence.
Across the world, there is a growing general discontent with leadership and the state of the world. The recent youth-led protests in Kenya around the finance bill, in Uganda on anti-corruption and in Nigeria on anti-inflation issues, prove that young people do have agency and can create the change they want, when the system fails them. And it is failing them.
Yet our leaders continue to invest in their performances at elite forums like UNGA, the G7, G20, BRICS, AU, WEF, COP and NATO, where the conversations don’t seem to create any real lasting change.
Ultimately, like the Olympics, the real impact of these summits will be momentary and mainly felt by the hosting city, which is left to cover the costs and return the city to normal.
Sadly, there are no medals at these summits for our leaders’ performances in their own countries. Perhaps there should be?