COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on the world. It might still be too early to tell what a post-coronavirus future will look like; however, it will likely change the world permanently.
COVID-19 makes the UN75 global conversation launched earlier this year by the UN even more relevant, as it captures people’s hopes and fears for humanity’s future and the global trends facing us, their priorities for the world we want to create, and their ideas for how the United Nations can help countries and all stakeholders better manage global trends.
To support this global initiative, the Graduate Institute seconded Dr Cecilia Cannon, senior researcher at the Global Governance Centre to be the UN75’s academic adviser. Together with UN colleagues, Dr Cannon prepared an update report detailing preliminary findings from the first batch of data originating from 186 countries, based on approximately 40,000 survey responses and 56 UN75 dialogues.
The report findings detail how the onset of COVID-19 has increased public support for international cooperation. Climate and the environment topped the list of issues respondents think will most affect humanity’s future, followed by conflict and violence and health risks, the latter having unsurprisingly risen sharply since early March. The top five future priorities emerging in the survey and dialogues were environmental protection, protection of human rights, less conflict, equal access to basic services, and zero discrimination.
The Institute additionally hosted a dialogue between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and six youth representatives, including two Institute students, on 25 February. This dialogue, which was jointly organised by the Graduate Institute and the UN, was the third in a series of global conversations with a particular focus on the youth to mark the UN’s 75th anniversary.
As a continuation of its support for the UN75 initiative, and its commitment to supporting conversations on global issues, the Institute is a partner in “Multilateralism in the time of COVID-19”, an online conversation organised by the UN Office in Geneva on the occasion of International Day of Multilateralism which will feature students from the Graduate Institute, the University of Geneva and foraus engaging in an open dialogue with the heads of key international organisations. These participants will address questions on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on multilateral cooperation and the need for global solidarity during and after the crisis.
You can watch the event live on webtv.un.org from 10:30 to 12:30 CEST on Friday 24 April.
You can also add your voice to the UN75 conversation by taking the UN75 one-minute survey.