First Impressions: UNHRC

*Due to technical issues, this posting is arriving a few weeks after the fact...

Earlier this year when I would daydream about my summer internship, the extent of what I could imagine included getting to better know my European colleagues, strolling along the canals in Amsterdam and learning how my office’s European branches work—simple, but new.

I have now been in Europe for less than two weeks, and while I have indeed strolled along some canals in Amsterdam and become acquainted with some of my European colleagues and their office-life, I have also exceeded my greatest expectations by more than tenfold. After just five days in Amsterdam (my home base), my supervisor has dispatched me to Geneva, to take part in the 14th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. And while I had an idea that she might be sending me to the UN, I had always just assumed that she would be here with me. Instead, she has put me in the capable hands of two close connections she has in Geneva, and I have been responsible for carrying the torch for my organization.

I have now made it through the first week of the session. With the assistance of my guides, I have met with Special Rapporteurs and have even given a statement during an Interactive Dialogue. Initially, my impression of the United Nations was based on my 7th and 8th grade Junior Model UN simulations, in which I made a number of rookie mistakes and missteps—thankfully, it was all pretend and the Irish did not actually mind that I had written a W.H.O. resolution in their name expounding the benefits of universal birth control. Needless to say, I entered this real-life United Nations with much trepidation, aware of the real-life consequences to my actions.

Diplomacy in action is really quite amazing to watch, and take part in. While my guide calls it “the jungle,” there is a level of trust and mutual respect within HRC Room XX (the hall in which the HRC meets) that I haven’t seen outside of a meditation retreat in which participants take a vow to respect each others’ space and property. Certainly, it can seem like a jungle at times, with points of order, interruptions, and wholehearted disagreements; but at the heart of it is decorum and order. Somehow just about every voice has an opportunity to speak (assuming the voice is accredited and representing a state, NGO, or NHRI with UN status), and these voices are most likely heard, at least out of one ear. Magically, translators in 6 languages simultaneously translate each delegate’s remarks into the ubiquitous grey earpieces dangling from everyone’s right or left ear.

Initially the prospect of listening out of only one ear was daunting. However, I have quickly come to appreciate the incredible acoustics of Room XX, and have come to see that listening out of just one ear allows one to multi-task to no end. I can take part in a quick strategy discussion using my free ear, then look something up online, send off a quick email and begin drafting a statement for the following day—all the while keeping an eye on when the country or NGO I am paying special attention to comes up on the speakers list. Cell phone conversations are not uncommon, and the acoustics of the room make it so that you only hear the happenings of those closest to you.

I’ll leave it at that for now, with another report from the UN to come soon.