"UN-ese"

The top 4 things I’ve learned from the first 4 days of CSD-17:

1. One-hour deadlines are the norm for drafting, revising and voting on Major Groups’ proposed text. This makes flexibility, effective communication and consultative skills a must!
2. “Sustainable development” is an extremely complex term with definitions and interpretations that vary drastically  depending on cultural, social, economic and other considerations.
3. The opportunities for  involvement at the CSD are endless: there are countless groups to join, text to (collectively) draft, meetings to attend, people to meet, workshops to participate in, important negotiation sessions to go to, documents to read, summaries to write, emails to send, blogs to post…the list goes on and on and on.    
4. The language of  UN documents is precise, meaningful and deliberately chosen. The Chair of the Women Major Group, for example, advised individuals to be wary of language such as “in accordance with national law”; “when appropriate”; “in accordance with traditional and religious beliefs”; and “in accordance with customary law”. These terms, which may appear harmless, can  have huge (and potentially negative) implications—especially for women.  Another  point: UN draft texts often consist of run-on sentences, incorrect English grammar and deliberate over-use of commas in order to avoid periods. English teachers worldwide would cringe! In the UN  world, ideas  introduced after a period are often disregarded by  parties negotiating the text; individuals, then, try to squeeze as much information into one (massive) sentence as possible. Finally, when proposing text to UN members for their consideration, it is important to use strong and firm language. Most often, the proposed language is edited—and weakened—during the negotiations.
    

 In short, being a delegate (especially a youth delegate) at the CSD is amazing!