"New Zealand at the United Nations"

Friday May 9 was the initial first half of the UNANZ conference, which as mentioned, was held at parliament in the Legislative Council Chamber. To begin, the conference was opened by MP Dr. Kennedy Graham, and then the National President of UNANZ, Graham Hassall. This was when I had to step up my game and snag some quality photos! Graham had told me that he wanted some detailed close up shots, and assured me that no one would be offended if I was blocking their view.

The first speaker for the conference was one of the most interesting in my opinion. Ms Charlotte Darlow is from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She spoke about how New Zealand has been contributing to the United Nations and the role that is has to play. She also spoke of the chances New Zealand has at gaining a seat on the UN Security Council. New Zealand is up against Italy and Turkey. Even though New Zealand is the smallest out of the 3, Charlotte was confident that New Zealand still had a good chance at gaining a seat because of New Zealand's stability as a country, and its anti-nuclear views which is shared and supported by a lot of other countries in the world.

The second speaker was Rachael Milicich from Statistics New Zealand. Rachael was followed by Col. Martin Dransfield from the New Zealand Defence Force. He spoke about what it means to work as a Peacekeeper for the New Zealand Army. One of the areas he concentrated on was work that NZ Peacekeepers had been doing in Bougainville and East Timor.

The Conference

The day finally arrived when I was to attend the 2014 UNANZ National Conference on 9/10 May. It was definitely an experience I will never forget. The first day was held at the old parliament building, and the second at Victoria University. I was lucky enough to stay with a friend who lives in Wellington Central so I was in walking distance of both Parliament and Victoria.

Even though New Zealand is a small country at the bottom of the Pacific, I was still in awe of the magnificence of Wellington Parliament. The Beehive is a massive building with a strong presence, and the old parliament building is just as impressive. When I arrived, the National President of UNANZ Graham Hassall showed me to the the room where the conference was to be held. It was a grand old room which started filling up with guests at about 9am.

A surprising twist for me was that on the day, it was realized that the photographer for the day had not shown up. It is important to showcase these types of events to put photos in the newsletter and upload pictures to the website, so Graham asked if I could take the photos for the day with his camera. I was more than happy, seeing as I don't have any experience as a photographer! I also took some of my own pictures using my iPhone which I have used for my blog.

Global Public Goods

The next aspect of the conference I want to understand more about is Global Public Goods.

What are Global Public Goods?

The term Global Public Good is hard to define. The best definition is rather vague, but still gives a reasonable idea. A Global Public Good is a "good" that is available on more-or-less worldwide basis. Global Public Goods traditionally have the three following properties:

- Non-Rivalrous: Consumption of this good by anyone does not reduce the quantity available to other agents.
- Non-Excludable: It is impossible to prevent anyone from consuming that good.
- It is available more-or-less worldwide.

According to Kaul, Grundberg and Stern, Global Public Goods have usually consisted of 'Traffic Rules' between countries and border issues such as tariffs. Today, targets such as disease control, pollution reduction, crisis prevention, and harmonized norms and standards are what is considered "important". The reason being enhanced openness, growing systemic risks, and the policy demands of the growing number of transnational actors in both business and civil society. A major reason for the under-provision of this new class of global public goods — we call them global policy outcomes — is that public policy-making has not yet adjusted to present-day realities. There are three major gaps:

- Juristictional Gap: The discrepancy between the global boundaries of today’s major policy concerns and the essentially national boundaries of policy-making.
- Participation Gap: Which results from the fact that we live in a multiactor world but international cooperation is still primarily intergovernmental.
- Incentive Gap: Because moral suasion is not enough for countries to correct their international spillovers or to cooperate for the global public good.

Cooperation is everything when it comes to the continuation of Global Public Goods. And not just cooperation that mistakenly assumes that the sphere of “public” ends at national borders, but cooperation that recognizes that an efficient system of global public policy is a necessary ingredient of an efficient global economy.

Global Governance

The next topic I have looked into is Global Governance, a further issue that will be discussed at the Wellington Conference. Global Governance is concerned with sustainable development. In order to maintain a steady rate at which the world will develop, it is believed by some that in order for this to happen, there must be global governance.

In an article by the UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda, it is believed that successful global governance has not yet been achieved, however its importance is recognized as the world is becoming more interdependent and there has been an increase in trade and capital flow. The United Nations is an important aspect of inclusive global governance as it is the only universal and inclusive multilateral forum.

Another reason why it is important to recognize the significance of global governance is because of illegal workers due to gaps in global governance which make progress in social development more difficult. This creates weak protection for migrants moving into a new country as well as restricted access to health benefits, agriculture, and other areas.




GOVERNANCE OF THE GLOBAL COMMONS

Stewardship of the global commons cannot be carried out without global governance because the Global Commons are defined as those parts of the planet which fall outside national jurisdiction - for example the oceans, the atmosphere, the Antarctic, and outer space. Science, information, education and peace are also sometimes thought of as global commons. Our planet is facing critical changes to the environment including climate change, the depletion of the ozone layer, and degradation in Antarctica. Without global governance, if business prevails, these problems will likely worsen and will negatively impact the global commons capacity to "provide ecosystem services for human well-being."

A number of treaties have been put in place to help to prevent this happening, as there are those who acknowledge that there is a problem. These include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 and instruments governed by the International Maritime Organization and UNEP’s Regional Seas Conventions to govern the high seas; the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) ensuring the protection of the Antarctica fauna and flora; a multitude of international environmental treaties that administer and protect the atmosphere and deal with the air pollution and atmospheric depletion, like the UNFCCC and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; and the Treaty on Principles governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space.

Global Commons

To gain a better insight into what the May conference in Wellington is about, I looked further into 'Global Commons.'

Global Commons is defined as a term used to describe international, supranational and global resource domains in which common-pool resources are found. The term 'Global Commons' includes earth's natural resources, the atmosphere, outer space, and the northern and southern polar regions, plus possibly cyber space (a new idea).

The 'Commons' is the bounteous inheritance of resources that makes life possible.
The 'Commons' includes: physical, biological, social, intellectual, and cultural dimensions both tangible and intangible.

Much of what adds texture and vitality to life is, in fact, participation in one form or another of the commons. There are essential inter-dependencies among these examples which reflect assets that are collectively shared and must be responsibly stewarded on behalf of succeeding generations.

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE:

As the world becomes more inter-connected, Global Governance will increase in relevance to be able to achieve sustainable development. Deepening economic globalization, and increasing migration, trade and capital flows, and climate change and increased activities in the global commons – those resource domains that do not fall within the jurisdiction of any one particular country, and to which all nations have access – make individual States more susceptible to policies adopted by others.

2014 UNANZ National Conference

Now that I have given a small taste of information on the United Nations and UNANZ, and introduced some ideas of what it's all about, I can get on to the main topic of why I initially created this blog.

On May 9/May 10, a conference is being held in Wellington, New Zealand to address four critical sets of questions that relate to the above title. The conference is being collaboratively organised by the New Zealand Centre for Global Studies, Victoria University's Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, and the United Nations Association of New Zealand. It is the national conference of 2014 for UNANZ.

The questions that the conference will be focusing on are as follows:

1. Global Commons - What is within the "global commons" today? Does it include, for instance, outer space? Is the concept of "planetary boundaries" useful in defining the global commons in a territorial sense?

2. Global Law - Who bears rights an obligations for global commons? what is the current law of the global commons? Is it situated within "the law of nations" or is it situated separate to the law of nation? Are conventions that seek the agreement of an endorsement of some 190 nation-states the best way to govern the global commons into the future?

3. Global Governance - Are current structures adequately governing the global commons? Are their negotiation and decision-making structures appropriate? At what point do the legitimate policies and actions of individual states become the concerns of all?

4. Global Public Goods - Is there need for other forms of global executive action?

Here is the current promotions posters for the Friday and Saturday conference:

Career Opportunities

Before I started work with UNANZ, I used to wonder how one was supposed to establish some sort of a career working for an organisation like the United Nations. Such establishments can seem intimidating and 'out of your league'. But looking through the UNANZ website, I found that there is a useful option on the web page for those who wish to pursue a career with either UNANZ or the UN. For those of you like me who would be interested in a career in New Zealand or possibly overseas working for the United Nations, the UNANZ website offers some guidance and opportunities available.

On the UNANZ website, under the subtitle 'THE UN', there is a list of UN Recruitment Sites which link you to some opportunities available.

- United Nations Careers Website
- International Civil Service Commission
- Volunteer Opportunities

There is also a huge amount of organisations listed on the UNANZ website that are linked to the United Nations and offer those who are interested in getting to know the UN better or are curious about pursuing some sort of a career with the UN. Just some of these organisations include:

- An internship held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York

- The United Nation's Children's Fund UNICEF

- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

- World Health Organisation WHO

There is also a list of organisations that are related to the United Nations. To have a look in more detail at these options including many more that are mentioned on the website, click here -

UN Youth Aotearoa New Zealand

UNANZ also offers something that could be a great stepping stone for keen minds who are looking to possibly pursue a career with the United Nations.





UN Youth NZ offers the chance for young people to get a taste of the United Nations. An example of this is the UN Youth National Council which is the supreme policy-making representative body of National and Regional UN Youth office holders that meets 3-4 times a year around the country. For more information on this, including the current members of the UN Youth NZ National Council, click here.

Here are all of the organisations associated with UN Youth New Zealand.

The Curriculum or the message that is portrayed to youngsters who join UN Youth NZ is about:
-Nurturing Global Citizens
-Understanding International Relations
-Understanding Values
-Equipping young New Zealander's to contribute to their communities
For a detailed look into the curriculum, click here.

UN YOUTH PRESIDENT

-The current UN Youth President for 2014 is Sally Wu

Human Rights

I recently watched a film that has made more of an impact on my thought than just about any other film I have seen before. "12 Years a Slave" is the true and very revealing story of Solomoman Northup, a man who in 1840s America, was kidnapped as a free African American man, and was forced into slavery in the southern states of America where slavery was socially accepted and was a way for the southerners to create their massive plantations that amounted to considerable wealth.

For me, watching this film was a significant reminder for me of the importance of Human Rights, which is something that the United Nations emphasizes as an important aspect of community and society. On the UNANZ website, Human Rights are described as,

"rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible."

Human Rights became official on 10 September, 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. It was written up as a document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration has 30 articles or statements about human rights and freedoms. For a broad overview of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, click here.

Other Key Human Rights Treaties are:

- 1965 International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - 1966 International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights - 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights - 1979 Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Millenium Development Goals

One of the reasons I have gained a lot of respect for the United Nations as an organisation is because of its humanitarian efforts to build a healthier, safer world society. The United Nations seeks to eradicate poverty in the world as much as it can and to offer assistance with halting the spread of deadly illnesses like the Aids virus and malaria.

Yes, it is easy to sit back and think "I've heard all of this before, everyone says they are going to eradicate poverty and change the world but it never happens."

But to make change happen, small steps must be taken to ensure that things happen efficiently and with a purpose. The United Nations has come up with what is called the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) which are goals set to be hopefully met by 2015. Of course some of the goals can be seen as unrealistic because there is no possible way of, for example, eradicating poverty in the word by next year. However, if you read some of the statistics in the links below, you might just understand why these goals were put into place and better understand why they are important and should be acted upon.

The first goal was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

The second goal was to achieve universal primary education

The third, promote gender equality and empower women

The fourth, reduce child morality

The fifth, improve maternal health

The sixth, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

The seventh, ensure environmental sustainability

And lastly the eighth, develop a global partnership for development

The United Nations

The United Nations organisation was officially set up in 1945 after World War II. 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the United Nations charter.

The name was originally used by the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The forerunner of the United Nations was the League of Nations, an organisation which was first brought together during World War I, to promote international cooperation and peace.

More information on the origins of the United Nations can be found here

UNANZ

What this blog is all about...

In 2011, I enrolled myself at Auckland University of Technology to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English + New Media and taking two minors, one being Social Sciences, the other being Creative Writing.

It is 2014 now, and the time has come for me to step it up and apply some of the stuff I have learned from my degree to the real world. In all honesty, its rather intimidating, but still exciting to begin a new challenge and put my knowledge to the test. I am now doing what is called co-operative education. Its sort of like work experience or an internship, except I have to reflect on everything that I have learned throughout the process and present it as an assignment to be able to graduate with my degree. 

That is how I ended up creating this blog. It's part of a project I am working on for my current co-operative education position. I was extremely fortunate to be accepted to do my co-op internship with UNANZ (United Nations Association of New Zealand), an international organisation I am very proud to work with. I met with Graham Hassall the National President who is very wise and was open minded about my position. I am going to be posting to this blog all of what I learn about the United Nations and in particular UNANZ, and will also be attending a conference in May in Wellington on Global Governance, Global Commons, & Global Public Goods: The State of Play. I hope that this blog will be an accessible and interesting read for people of all ages, and hopefully provide some more knowledge for people of how the United Nations affects us. 

I have created this blog as a way of incorporating the English + New Media side of my degree, and also incorporating the Social Sciences side of my degree with the information that I will be posting. This blog will be (hopefully) an interesting look into what UNANZ is all about. I plan to research in to what UNANZ is involved with, how it came to be, and hopefully spark some interest in the United Nations, especially with people around my age group because I believe the United Nations is a very important aspect of our worldwide interconnectedness, even for a little country like New Zealand.
Stay tuned!