“Be Bold and Provocative”
United Nations Townhall, December 2022
On Dec 2nd the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, held a town hall with hundreds of Civil Society representatives. Five organizations were given the floor for a few minutes each, aligning their talks with one of President Kőrösi’s 5 major pathways to solutions – Solidarity, Science, Dignity, Collaboration and Personal Responsibility.
President Kőrösi responded to each organization with a request that all groups, especially science-based groups, begin collecting data, as data provides a way for a group of people to begin conversation guided by a shared baseline of agreement. In essence, this baseline, he said, by-passes potential gridlock as individuals holding varied perspectives lobby for their perspective to be the dominant one. This focus on collecting data in a scientific manner and then using it to begin to solve the world’s problems was a running theme throughout the two hour meeting.
“Science will never tell us what to do.” He said. “It tells us what our options are and what might the consequences be. Science will also provide us with validation of our approaches.”
Along with an emphasis on the role of science in solving global problems, he circled back to another key point many times. The world’s problems are “a shared responsibility” he said. “This must be remembered.”
“The future isn’t decided on in some dark back room and then given to all of you. You must present us with the possibilities. Doing, from both sides, is a much better process.”
His emphasis on the responsibility of the whole is something those involved in world goodwill programs will recognize as a cornerstone of human forward motion. Alone, in our isolated groups, our strength to do good in the world is limited. But joined with others to create a unified voice of intent holds an immense power for change. The larger group, it seems, will get the attention of those in positions of power – and getting the attention of those individuals is, according to President Kőrösi, crucial.
Along with the need of science-based data and a unified voice, President Kőrösirepeated several times that our solutions needed to be “bold and provocative” and he noted that, “at the rate global society is currently moving, it will take 134 years to achieve full justice and full equality for all.” He inferred that this was an unacceptable rate of change, and asked that we all think beyond the current slate of solutions and approach global need using a new ray of light – an inspired light which takes humanity as a whole into account.
This could be a watershed moment for Civil Society and Non-Government Organizations, and is desperately needed. If we could move the core goal of the collective away from attention on an individual need to that of the need of the unified mass, we will certainly embody boldness, and provocativeness. As we move further into the 21st century, this approach may well ignite the greater power of the United Nations – and become the most potent approach yet to be utilized on a global scale.
Before the town hall closed, President Kőrösi shared a little known fact with us regarding the creation of the final 17 Sustainable Development Goals. We are all familiar with these goals, but when the discussions first began in 2016 about what those goals might be, there were actually 240 possibilities on the table. Each one had merit he noted, and each one was treated with utmost respect. (An example of one of the original 240 possible SDG’s that didn’t make the cut, was the question of what to do about accumulating space debris.)
He made the point that though there were many worthy issues, they were actually part of a greater issue, and that those greater points of focus were the ones which were chosen. These were the goals which offered the greater good to all the people. “The final 17 SDG’s” he said “can be shared by the whole planet.” Meaning, the whole planet must work together to make them a reality.
Hone your focus, gather as a greater group, follow the science and collect the data, be bold, be provocative, work on behalf of the greater good and use your collective voices; these are the directions we have been asked to go.
