Summer Speaker's Series
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World Information Transfer Presents Summer Speaker Series June/July 2014 A publication by WIT Summer Interns Summer Speaker Series June/July 2014 Introduction During the course of WITs two-month internship program, a number of speakers from various professional backgrounds came to share their knowledge and experience with the interns. These individuals are leaders in their fields, and brought to light critical health, environment, and policy issues that relate to WITs work at the UN. The meetings with these distinguished guests are summarized below. Table of Contents H. E. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev...................... 3 Ambassador Thomas Gass................................... 5 Mr. Nikhil Seth.................................................... 7 Mr. Igor Shpiniov................................................ 9 Mr. Ziad Mahmassani.......................................... 11 Dr. Patricia Myskowski....................................... 13 Dr. Scott Ratzan................................................... 15 Dr. Mame Diouf................................................... 17 Mr. James Sniffen................................................ 19 Mr. Richard Katzman........................................... 21 Mr. Howard Margulis........................................... 23 Mr. Josh Cohen..................................................... 25 Summer Speaker Series June/July 2014 H.E. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev H.E. Yuriy A. Sergeyev has been the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations since 2007. Prior to this post, he served as the ambassador of Ukraine to UNESCO, France, Greece, and Albania. He also worked as the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine, where he addressed land border issues with Russia. Recent events in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine have raised an array of challenging issues related to self-determination, secession, international intervention, and annexation. World Information Transfer interns had the opportunity to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine with Ambassador Sergeyev. Ambassador Sergeyev addressed three thematic issues: the social, political, and economic implications that have emerged in Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion of Crimea. Social ramifications were as follows: Ukraine would always uphold and respect human rights. Therefore, regaining Crimea by force was not an option, as it could lead to many causalities. Major constitutional reforms in Ukraine would include decentralizing power to different regions. The Ukrainian government remains committed to the idea of decentralization of power, and is ready to ensure a special status for Russian and other languages of national minorities. Political problems were as follows: Ukraine and the international community face as Russia blatantly violates all norms and codes of conduct of the international order, which prevents a peaceful resolution. Ambassador Sergeyev strongly posited that the referendum in Crimea was illegitimate, as it was inspired by Russia, and the plebiscite took place while Russian soldiers occupied the peninsula. In response to questions on UN Security Council reform, Ambassador Sergeyev stressed the need for reform of current veto power held by the permanent five members, US, UK, China, France, and Russia. He upheld the notion that the United Nations faces a crisis of structural reform that is most visible when the Security Council remains in a deadlock in times of need. Economic responses were as follows: Russia is using its supply of gas as a tool for political coercion within the region. The current price of gas supplied to Ukraine has been deliberately increased to further destabilize the Ukrainian economy. Ukraine is committed to and is working on introducing a structured and more decentralized system to govern regions. Remembering the Chernobyl accident, His Excellency strongly re-affirmed Ukraine’s priority in safeguarding all nuclear reactors, and assured that all measures have been enhanced when in a state of crisis. Page 3 Summer Speaker Series June/July 2014 The government is exploring alternative sustainable options and re-evaluating their transition from an energy sector primarily based on gas consumption to one that utilizes electricity and alternative sources. Overall, the level of discourse and the breadth of information disseminated by the His Excellency Ambassador Sergeyev helped the interns understand the Ukrainian crises from a first hand perspective. In conclusion, Ambassador Sergeyev thanked the interns for their insightful questions. From left: Samantha Kong, Shan Cheema, Tracy Lau, Leslie Anokye, Apurv Gupta, Aslesha Dhillon, H.E. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev, Dr. Christine K. Durbak, Marli Kasdan, Sophia Griffiths-Mark, Nusrat Laskar, Zachary Halliday, Harrison Chung, Modou Cham. Page 4 Summer Speaker Series June/July 2014 Ambassador Thomas Gass Mr. Thomas Gass is the Assistant Secretearary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in UN DESA. With the ending of the Open Working Group (OWG) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many questions still remain about the future of the outcome document. Mr. Gass talked with the WIT interns about the SDG’s and the future of the post 2015 development agenda. Mr. Gass began the discussion by saying that we are at a watershed moment in the history of humanity - for the first time, 10 days ago, 193 countries agreed on where they want to be in the next 15 years. During the OWG for the first time in history, member states, civil society, groups of experts, and ordinary people (via online contributions) gave their input, which through months of deliberations turned into the 17 goals and 169 targets of the SDGs. The question is what comes next? Mr. Gass and Ms. Amina Mohammed (the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on post 2015 development planning) are in charge of preparing the report for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. This report will help shape the future of the post 2015 development agenda, and will pave the road for where and how the outcome document of the OWG will be utilized. A formidable task, Mr. Gass asked the interns, “What do you think the Secretary-General should do now, considering the result of the OWG is not just an expert committee or informal group.” The dilemma is what comes next. The Secretary- General’s report is not the end of the negotiations; rather it is just the beginning. The end of the negotiations will culminate in a resolution passed by member states in the General Assembly during Sept. 2015.The task before the governments is to keep moving forward. There are still large debates over what is the most pressing issue for development. Some say industrialization is the answer, some put their focus on poverty eradication; still, others think education or proper nutrition is the way forward. There are so many different ways of seeing development, and the SDGs are a result of this diversity and complexity. If we want to present this document in a useful way for the whole global community, we need to try and appeal to the different perspectives we all have. Member States can choose which goals and targets are the most pertinent and transformative for their development. Countries can therefore prioritize the goals they see as most important. Mr. Gass gave the commonalities of development in Switzerland and Nepal (two vastly different countries) as an example of how to bridge these gaps. Both countries face challenges of diversity when tackling the persistent problem of inequality in development. Furthermore, the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities is very important. It’s important for the western world to understand that some countries feel a profound sense of injustice because they feel the industrialized countries have become rich by exploiting natural resources, and that the world has now reached its planetary boundaries and developed countries want to stop others from doing the same. In the same vein, when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, Page 5 Summer Speaker Series June/July 2014 it is important to recognize which countries bear the largest burden of this problem, and to take into account the differing capacities of countries in tackling it. The poorest billion people in the world only produce 3% of the world’s carbon emissions. This stark inequality in carbon emissions, and consequent contribution to global warming, needs to be taken into account in the goals and targets on climate change in the SDGs. Mr. Gass lastly talked about financing the SDGs and the post 2015 development agenda. Who’s responsibility is it to pay, and how much? This brings us back to the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities, with respect to which countries can afford to pay what. Mr. Gass believes that all OECD countries should try and reach the .7% target of GNI to be allocated as Official Development Assistance (ODA). However, despite their capacity, most developed countries are vastly below this target. The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing comes into the post 2015 development agenda with the task of coming up with a report for development financing options. Financing for development is one of the major challenges and unanswered questions of the outcome document of the OWG and the future of the post 2015 development agenda. Concluding our discussion, Mr. Gass said that the only way to effectively increase financing for global sustainable development