Thursday, January 21st- Day 14

This was the busiest day that I have seen since beginning my research assistantship at the United Nations. Each day there is a television monitor that lists each meeting for the upcoming day; a split screen was needed today to fit in each meeting being held. The meetings included South-South Cooperation, the Issue of Palestine, the Haiti Humanitarian Crisis, Climate Change, and anything else you can imagine.

The first meeting I attended today was the DPI/NGO Weekly Briefing. The theme of this briefing was “Building Bridges between Cultures: A Closer look a Hinduism.” The varied panel included: Dr. Panchapakesa Jayaraman, Executive Director of Bhavan USA; Dr. Seshagiri Rao, professor of religious studies at UVA; Thomas Uthup Ph.D of the UN Alliance of Civilizations; and Sheetal Shah, director of development of the Hindu American Foundation.

The panel discussed the many stereotypes that Hindus face from the west, and issues that face all Hindus living outside of India. One of the biggest concepts that the panel tried to dispel was the correlation between religious practices in India and politics of India. Interestingly, (and unprovoked I might add) Ms. Shah proclaimed that the sharing of festivals, dances, and other leisure activities have been proven to be the most effective way to spread the truth of Hinduism across the globe. Dr. Rao seconded this by saying he and many other Hindus celebrate Christmas, and he knows of many non-Hindus who celebrate Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.

The second meeting I attended was “World Ranking of Think-Tanks” hosted by the United Nations University of New York. James G. McGann, of the University of Pennsylvania, presented on the exhaustive list. McGann is the director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program; essentially a think-tank that rates other think-tanks. The list segregated the organizations by region and major research areas. Areas of importance that went into the ranking of these think-tanks include: new knowledge provided, ability to meet the needs of donors, reputation with policy makers, etc. The biggest point that McGann brought up was that this ranking evaluates what the think-tanks have previously done, it is no indication of their future potential. That concerned me a little bit, as potential donors will undoubtedly look at this list as a basis before making contributions.

But if you’re wondering which Think-Tank came out on top? The Brookings Institution.
Lastly, I went to an OCHA briefing on the situation in Haiti. I was surprised to learn that monetary donations are not really an issue in aiding the crisis in Haiti. OCHA has already received over one billion dollars from world's governments alone. This figure does not include any private or in-kind donations. The problem lies in logistics. Over one thousand flights are scheduled to land in Port-au-Prince, and there is currently a two weeks back log of flights into the country (and this is only the flights approved by MINUSTAH officials.) The bottleneck should be eased in the next few days as a floating dock is being installed in the destroyed port of the capital city.

One area where OCHA is asking governments and member states for more financial help is the cash for work program. In this program, MINUSTAH pays Haitian people to participate in the cleanup of rubble in the country.

I also discovered a new office in the United Nations today. The office of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council. Like a think-tank ranking think-tanks, the UNSRC tries to facilitate social development for those trying facilitate social development. UNSRC is comprised of nearly fifty recreational clubs ranging from skiing to Colombian culture to poetry to Capoeira. It is important that the UN invests in the well-being of its staff by providing these opportunities.