Ep. 24: Elders and Youth Reflect on the UN's 75th Birthday

PassBlue UN Podcasts

Happy Birthday, UN Charter! As the United Nations turns 75, UN-Scripted looks at the past, present and future of the organization through the sharp eyes of elders and youth. In this episode, you’ll hear from former heads of states, diplomats and United Nations officials on what they believe are the UN’s greatest accomplishments and the path ahead for the organization. In this episode, you'll hear strong, controversial opinions: disillusioned UN youth delegates, elders desperate for international cooperation and pro-Asian scholars who believe the region is bound to lead the world soon. You’ll also hear from leading UN scholars who look at the key events that have shaped the United Nations since its its inception. For more information about our guests, in order of appearance: • Stephen Schlesinger, United States, Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation and former Director of the World Policy Institute at the New School; author of, among other books, “Act of Creation: The Founding of The United Nations," available here: https://www.amazon.com/Act-Creation-Founding-United-Nations/dp/0813332753 • Thomas G. Weiss, United States, Presidential Professor of Political Science at The CUNY Graduate Center and former director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at CUNY; author of numerous books on the UN. For more information: https://www.futureun.org/en/Home • Fabrizio Hochschild, Chile, Special Adviser to Secretary-General António Guterres on the Commemoration of the UN-75th Anniversary. The United Nations worldwide survey is available at: https://www.un.org/UN75 • Mary Robinson, Ireland, Former President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and currently Chair of The Elders. Mary Robinson has also discussed human rights and multilateral cooperation in a post-pandemic world with fellow members of The Elders in special episodes of a new podcast series called “Finding Humanity”. The series also features interviews with frontline activists and human rights defenders working for change in their communities. Listen here: findinghumanitypodcast.com • Sir Richard Jolly, United Kingdom, Former Deputy Director of Unicef and a UN Assistant Secretary-General • Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore, Former Permanent Representative to the UN and Distinguished Fellow at the National University of Singapore. His book, "Has China Won," is available at: https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/kishore-mahbubani/has-china-won/9781541768123/ • Carol Bellamy, United States, Former Executive Director of Unicef • Justin Yifu Lin, China, Former Chief Economist at the World Bank and Dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University. • Edward Mortimer, United Kingdom, Former Director of Communications for Secretary-General Kofi Annan And our youth leaders: • Côme Girschig, France, Representative at the UN’s 2019 Youth Climate Change Summit • Yen Ba Vu, Vietnam, Law and History Student • Dr. Joannie M. Bewa, Benin, Sexual and Reproductive Health Advocate and UN Youth Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals • Sophie Arsenault, Canada, delivered a speech on behalf of Canada at the UN PassBlue’s Twitter: @pass_blue Facebook: @passblueUN Instagram: @passblue ----- And check out our sponsors! • The Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom offers a one-year masters degree program in United Nations and Diplomatic Studies. www.buckingham.ac.uk/humanities/ma/united-nations-and-diplomatic-studies • Fordham University offers a Master of Science in Humanitarian Studies via online and evening classes at Fordham's campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan. fordham.edu/mshs. • The Fletcher School at Tufts University offers a two-year Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy and a one-year master’s degree program for mid-career professionals. https://fletcher.tufts.edu