UNICEF...ECOSOC...NGO...GPE...the international community is one with acronyms on top of acronyms. But this week at Global Citizen we’re focusing on four specific letters: UNGA, the United Nations General Assembly.
So that’s what the letters stand for, but what does that mean? The UNGA is made up of all 193 members of the UN, and by members I mean countries.
UNGA is meeting for it’s 69th session this week. Basically that means that they’ll be in a room like this discussing important international issues and possible solutions. On the agenda this yearfor instance are peace and security issues such as the situation in Afghanistan, the topic of democracy and human rights in Haiti, the development of Africa, the promotion of human rights of children, and on and on for over 150 items that need addressing.
As you know the Global Citizen Festival is THIS WEEKEND!!! That seems like a big coincidence for our biggest event of the year to fall right after one of the most impactful weeks in the international community...and it just happens to be in the same city? Well turns out we actually planned it this way.
The festival was intentionally set for Saturday because UNGA week is a time where policies are pushed forward and change can happen. The world’s leaders are in the same place this week too --many of which you’ll be seeing at the Great Lawn-- so it’s a chance for us to harness the spirit of the week to our advantage in ending extreme poverty by 2030.
We’re not the only ones putting on events this week either! UN Women kicked off things on Saturday night with the launching of their #HeForShe campaign aimed at reaching gender equality through solidarity. I was able to go and hear about this awesome idea that is including men in the gender conversation. But I can’t lie, getting to seeEmma Watson was the highlight of my night, and she gave a speech that gave me goosebumps.
After I was able to come down from my fangirl frenzy, I walked outside and watched an awesome light show being projected against the side of the UN building, called “illUmiNations: Protecting our Planet.” It featured images and facts about the climate crisis. It acted as a way to lead up to the Climate Summit that’s happening this week in order to catalyze action against climate change.
There are all kinds of events happening this week by non-governmental organizations and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is showing his commitment to solving our world’s problems by attending a lot of them --including the festival! Look, he was even at the “People’s Climate March” on Sunday.
Global Citizens have been taking actions all summer in order to capitalize on the opportunity that UNGA week presents to affect change. We can’t think of a better culmination of all of our hard work than to celebrate with some good times and great music at the Festival this weekend.
Stay tuned for more updates on UNGA happenings and progress on the impacts we’re making as Global Citizens!
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Alex Vinci