A Reflection

In the early 1990s, shortly after the Brundtland Report and before environmental education became the dominant focus, there was a strong movement for Global Education. I recall attending a UN conference in 1993 where educators from across the world gathered, and each of the seven UN education agencies presented their vision of global education.

As I listened, I was struck by the sheer volume of material—44,000 pages of information. When I stood to speak, I asked the 3,500 educators present: Has anyone here read all of these pages? Not a single hand was raised. My point was simple: how can we move forward meaningfully if no one has absorbed the totality of what has been produced? Conferences must find better ways to share knowledge and distill it into usable wisdom.

It was with this in mind that I later created YUYAY—not to promote a single viewpoint, but to serve as a common document rooted in the intention of peace. Sadly, the field of global education slowly faded, replaced by environmental education. Yet even environmental education has splintered, struggling to embrace true holism and wholistic approaches.

Observations on UN Structures

My experiences at the UN revealed deeper systemic flaws. At a conference in Cuba, I met a UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) responsible simultaneously for Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. I was astonished—how could one person meaningfully represent three countries at once, especially without deep local knowledge? More troubling, I learned that UNRC positions do not exist in donor countries. This imbalance, in my view, explains much of the corruption and inefficiency within the UN system.

I also witnessed troubling practices at the 1993 Vienna Human Rights Conference. The conclusions had been drafted before the conference even began. At a preparatory meeting in Montreal, I raised the idea that rights must always be paired with responsibilities. With guidance from Ambassador Walther Lichem, I made a formal intervention, gathering signatures from organizations representing hundreds of millions of people.

Initially, the drafting committee resisted, asking me to withdraw my intervention. I refused unless all signatories agreed. In the end, the committee compromised, and my intervention was included in the Preamble of the final document. That experience taught me the power of the preamble—it shapes the spirit of international agreements. From that moment forward, the principle of Rights and Responsibilities began appearing in global documents. Had I simply handed over a note, the idea would likely have vanished.

Where the UN Falls Short

From these experiences, I see two fundamental flaws in the UN system:
1. Structural imbalance: No UNRCs in donor countries, leaving recipient nations managed by outsiders with limited local understanding.
2.  Conference processes: Predetermined outcomes undermine genuine dialogue and innovation.

Both fail to serve the cause of peacemaking. And here lies another critical distinction: the UN’s raison d’être has been peacekeeping, not peacemaking. This difference must be openly discussed.

The Importance of UNDRIP

Finally, perhaps the most important issue: the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP was intended to replace the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which notoriously excluded Indigenous peoples from the definition of “human beings.” UNDRIP corrects this injustice, redefining humanity to include Indigenous peoples fully.
Yet the UN has failed to emphasize this transformative shift. Too often, UNDRIP is taught only to Indigenous communities, rather than to entire populations who must understand that it applies to all people. The Secretary-General should make clear that UNDRIP supersedes the 1948 declaration. Without this recognition, its significance remains misunderstood.

Conclusion

The UN has achieved much, but its structures and processes remain flawed. Global education was lost, environmental education fragmented, and peacemaking neglected. UNDRIP offers a profound opportunity to redefine humanity and justice, but only if it is embraced universally.

The challenge ahead is not merely to keep peace, but to make peace—through systems that are transparent, inclusive, and rooted in responsibility as much as rights.

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash