This might only appeal to global governance geeks, but what if there were a site dedicated to only the good news coming out of the UN.
The first line of defense against detractors and champion of a multilateral world.
Background: I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what’s needed in the UN realm for years. What’s the missing ingredient, what’s keeping it from being seen as the crowning achievement of the 20th century?
Sure, we invented the car, television, internet. Went to space. But we also, for the first time in the history of the world, gathered representatives of every country in a room and started talking. We’re all having civilized conversations every single day about the challenges that confront us.
It’s a glimpse at what a united and peaceful world might look like.
Back to the idea: the bad news is already all over the headlines. But what about the major strides being taken? We need to celebrate what works well, otherwise we might lose it.
Other potential ingredients:
- Greater involvement of civil society by making it easier to get accredited and with more dedicated processes for engagement.
- A list of all the meetings taking place, especially those that allow outside participation.
- An easily searchable database of treaties and negotiating texts, including ratification status
- Compliance mechanisms
- National campaigns supporting ratification of treaties (especially in the US)
- Moving beyond sovereignty and national boarders, recognizing our relationships are more dynamic than ever with facebook/twitter/etc
Lots more, I’m sure. Can you help think of things I’m missing?