Throughout the Spring and Fall terms of 2023, we organized many exciting talks and panels with UN experts and practitioners. We'll begin our event summary with three high-level events.

After the main public talk, Francis met with 25 select students in a small group setting. In the intimate meeting, he advised on misinformation, empowerment, women, and the Caribbean's role. Participants left reinvigorated in the UN's ability to bring peace and prosperity. If you missed the event, you can watch the recording here.

On April 3, Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator shared her insights into the Future of Humanitarian Action. In conversation with Kristele Younes, Co-Director of SIPA's Human Rights & Humanitarian Policy Concentration, and Daniel Naujoks, Director of SIPA's International Organization & UN Studies specialization, Msuya discussed what it will take to overcome the challenges facing the global humanitarian system. Moreover, she described aid operations in specific countries, her plans to empower people affected by the crisis, and engaged in a debate with students from various Columbia University departments on the professionalization of humanitarian assistance and UN careers.

On 2 May, SIPA's IO/UN studies joined forces with the Global Centre for Climate Mobility's Rising Nations Initiative to organize an informal High-Level Roundtable Discussion on “Sea-level Rise—Legal Implications for Statehood”. The discussion featured Bogdan Aurescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania and Co-Chair of the International Law Commission's Study Group on the implications of sea-level rise; Laigane Italeli Talia, Acting Attorney-General of Tuvalu, Ambassador Namira Negm, Director of the African Union's Migration Observatory, three additional co-chairs of the ILC Study Group and academic experts from National University of Singapore, Fridtjof Nansen Institute of Norway, University of Lincoln, Columbia Law School, La Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú,  University of Copenhagen, and the Autonomous University of Lisbon. For SIPA, the discussion saw the inputs and moderation by Professor Kamal Amakrane, Managing Director of the Global Centre for Climate Mobility, Morten Albert Michelsen, who spent his time as Visiting Fellow at SIPA to write a legal report on The Legal Status of the Pacific Atoll States’ Statehood and Populations in light of Sea-Level Rise and who was instrumental for organizing the event, as well as Professor Daniel Naujoks, Director of SIPA's International Organization & UN Studies Specialization.

On November 13, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs gave a talk on Mobilizing Action towards the Global Compact on Refugees. Triggs highlighted new developments in refugee protection and mobility, highlighting the Global Compact on Refugees. She stressed the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships and state/non-state pledges to improve opportunities, as well as humanitarian and development cooperation like the World Bank's entrepreneurship support in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camps. Triggs highlighted the upcoming Global Refugee Forum as an important opportunity to expand commitments, though acknowledging UNHCR's limitations. The panel consisted of Professor Kian Tajbakhsh, Senior Advisor for the Committee on Forced Migration, Shabnam Fayyaz, Employment Coordinator at the International Rescue Committee's Refugee Resettlement Program, and former Columbia Displaced Student Scholar and Professor Daniel Naujoks, Director of SIPA IO/UN studies. If you missed the discussion, you can watch the event recording here.

On March 27, three innovation and new technology adoption experts at the UN Secretariat, UNICEF, and the OECD discussed with SIPA students what innovation means for international organizations and how to overcome barriers and obstacles to create lasting change through innovation. The panelists, Salem Avan, Director, Policy, Strategy & Governance Division at the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), Radha Kulkarni, Investment Manager and Lead, UNICEF's Office of Innovation, Benjamin Kumpf, Head of Innovation for Development Facility at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) answered students' most pressing questions about the UN System and its capability to keep abreast with the latest trend in technology.

In February, UNHCR Senior Development Officer Dr. Agnès Hurwitz shared insights from recent justice needs surveys in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Sudan. In discussion with Hurwitz and IO/UNS director Daniel Naujoks, participants learned about barriers for displaced persons accessing legal rights and UN efforts with governments to reform justice systems for access. UNHCR is working with stakeholders on people-centered justice addressing vulnerable groups' needs including IDPs and refugees, investing in evidence-based data and knowledge production, integrating people's perspectives into models and policies, and engaging hosts, refugees, IDPs, institutions, and development partners.

In March, Greta Gunnarsdottir, Director of the UNRWA's Representative Office in New York City and Silvia Delgado, UNRWA Senior Liaison Officer came to SIPA to share insights on programs and activities by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In conversation with SIPA Professor Marc Jacquand, the discussion brought to the forefront the specific approaches and actities through which UNRWA engages in education, vocational training, health care, relief and social services, and microfinance for Palestine refugees. The guest speakers highlighted the importance of the agency in providing camp infrastructure and improvement and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict, while acknowledging the challening context in which its programs are being implemented.

In 2023, IO/UNS was proud to partner with other programs to bring speakers and opportunities to our community. This included talks by:

• Dr. Jyotsna "Jo" Puri, Associate Vice-President for Strategy and Knowledge at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on What Does Credibility Mean Today: Experiences of the IFAD (with the MPA in Development Practice program (MPA-DP) and the Economic and Political Development Concentration (EPD))

• Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and current UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia and on Afghanistan and the Taliban Takeover: A View From the Ground on How the UN Adapted its Approach (with the Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy concentration (HRHP))

• Thomas Kontogeorgos, Chief of the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Section at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and two other members of the section, Akossiwa Lea Koudjou, Policy and Planning Officer and Anne Novak, Associate DDR Programme Management Officer, on the Secretary-General's report on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (with the International Conflict Resolution Specialization and EPD)

• Bernardo Ivo Cruz, Portugal's Secretary of State for International Trade and Foreign Investment, on European Union Policy and Practice on Sustainability: Case of Portugal (with MPA-DP and the Columbia European Union Student Association)

• James Mulligan, Senior Policy Advisor at the Irish Mission to the United Nations on the Mission's endeavors on climate security and his effort of leading and supporting Ireland’s co-facilitation of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit and its Political Declaration intergovernmental negotiations (with MPA-DP)

• Charles Petrie, the former Assistant Secretary-General to the UN on The Limits of Humanitarian Assistance in Contested Regimes (with HRHP)

The IO/UNS Specialization is strongly dedicated to create professional development and networking opportunities for all SIPA students.

In March, Professor Daniel Naujoks, director of SIPA's International Organization and UN Studies specialization, shared key pointers on how students can use their time at SIPA to (a) build expertise and a hirable profile (e.g., techniques to acquire new skills and design strong resumes); (b) create and nurture networks; and (c) understand processes, paperwork and markers to land one of the coveted jobs at the United Nations.

In 2023, SIPA students had many opportunities to engage directly with the United Nations. 

Some of our students got a chance to represent SIPA during an event for the International Day of Democracy, organized by the UN Democracy Fund on 15 September at the UN Headquarters. In line with the theme for this year’s International Day of Democracy “Empowering the next generation," the event highlighted the role of youth in protecting and promoting civic space and recognized their leadership in moving climate action forward.

On October 24, a group of 20 SIPA students headed to UN Women headquarters for a discussion with Michele Bachelet (former UN Women Executive Director, High Commissioners for Human Rights and currently Carnegie Fellow at IGP) and Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director, followed by a lunch with several UN Women directors. 

Celebrating the role of women in building and protecting peace, on October 25, 40 of our students went on a UN Tour with a special focus on women, followed by an art action on "Peace Begins with Her" on the pavement in front of the United Nations Headquarters as a reminder of the powerful but often shunned voices of women in peace efforts. 

The United Nations and International Organizations Roundtable Conversations and subsequent reception brought together more than 150 students with 20 United Nations experts. After two years of organizing the event in a virtual format, on March 22, 2023, experts and students were able to once again connect for in-person exchanges. Seated at roundtables and joined by small, rotating groups of students, the experts discussed their work and how the United Nations’ various bodies promote peace, human rights, sustainable development, humanitarian action, gender equity, social justice, private sector involvement, environmental resilience and cooperation among states and various stakeholders. Moreover, students received valuable career advice regarding the most successful ways of finding internships and managing UN-specific workload. Over the course of the evening, each student took part in three different roundtable conversations, enjoying the opportunity to interact with staff members from a broad range of international organizations, including UNICEF, ILO, UNDP, UNCDF, UN Global Compact, OCHA, UN-DESA, DPPA, DPO and OLA. You can read a short write-up of the event here.

In cooperation with other SIPA programs, we were happy to host UNICEF's Radha Kulkarni (MPA/EPD 2017) for a talk on innovative financing entitled Navigating the UN System: A SIPA Graduate's Perspective (with EPD); a workshop on UN Competency Based Interviewing with Professor Kristele Younes, Co-director of SIPA's Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy concentration; and a talk on STEM / Policy Career Pathways in International Organizations with speakers from UNICEF, the World Bank and the private sector.

Throughout the year, we hosted several social events to encourage networking and community building among specializers. Our social events brought together more than 450 students in 2023 and gave us an opportunity to connect with each other.

On September 16, 30 students attended the annual IO/UNS Fall Retreat at Columbia's nature-surrounded Lamont Campus for insightful discussions and activities. After an icebreaker, students met in small groups with experts like UN Women's Gülden Türköz-Cosslett who discussed sustainable development and her work in Afghanistan, UN Women's Louise Nylin who delved into political analysis and the UN's future challenges, and UN Africa's Ben Idrissa Ouedraogo who addressed Africa's development and the UN's climate and energy engagement. Students also shared their vision for an "ideal IO/UNS program" with Director Daniel Naujoks. One student remarked the experts "offered amazing insight into their roles" while another emphasized "hearing from people working to make a difference." After lunch, students hiked in the campus's beautiful forest and got creative by rewriting song lyrics to "Señorita" by Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes and "Smells like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana to songs about multilateralism, with entertaining performances that rallied the group together. The retreat wrapped up with a closing reception with drinks, music, and bonding.

In May, the IO/UNS community celebrated the end of the eventful Spring 2023 semester and the graduation of many specializers during the IO/UNS & UNA End-of-Year-Social. Over 110 students had the chance to share drinks and vegetarian food with the specialization team at Amity Hall. In September, we welcomed our students to the 2023 Fall semester with a Back-to-School Social. We enjoyed getting to know the new students, catching up with returning students, and sightings of some of our beloved alumni. The floor was abuzz with vibrant discussions on multilateralism, global cooperation, human rights, what keeps up awake at night, and campus tips. And on the last day of classes in 2023, on December 11, we celebrated the End-of-the-Semester Social - as usual in collaboration with SIPA's student-led United Nations Association.

On October 24, the SIPA community came together to celebrate United Nations Day, marking the 78th year since the entry into force in 1945 of the UN charter. This was an opportunity for students to mingle, learn, and talk about the purpose of the United Nations. Students discussed their favorite SDGs, took photos in the photo booth, played games, and enjoyed refreshments. Congratulations to the winners of the raffle and those who did the quiz – and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

To foster a better understanding of the various ways in which multilateral organizations and processes work toward goals of sustainable development, peace, human rights, and equity, on UN Day 2021 – we launched Multilateralism in Action (MiA). Our cutting-edge think pieces published by leading UN and global governance scholars and practitioners provide insights into the determinants, modalities, and outcomes of multilateralism at the global, regional, national, and local levels. 

Reigniting Multilateralism

Multilateral Cooperation: Are Global Challenges Outpacing Global Unity? Pathways to Reignite Solidarity Towards 2030 by Dennis Francis, President of the United Nations General Assembly (78th Session)

The International Civil Servant: Foot Soldier of Multilateralism by Jean-Marie Guéhenno,  Arnold Saltzman Professor of Practice at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and former UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping

Multilateralism in an age of crises – Where do countries at the last mile of development fit in? by Habib Ur Rehman Mayar, Deputy General Secretary of the Group of Seven Plus (g7+)

Sustainable Development

The SDGs have been declared dead – let’s bring them back to life! by Svenja Schulze, Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Re-defining State Intervention: Achieving Balanced Decision Making in Sustainable Finance by Marcos Neto, Director of UNDP’s Sustainable Finance 

Migration in a Globalized World

Human Migration Needs a New Multilateralism by Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Legal and Institutional Challenges

Much Attacked, Still Standing: How the International Legal Order is Attacked and Defended by Heike Krieger, Professor for International and Public Law at Freie Universität Berlin and Andrea Liese, Professor of International Relations at the University of Potsdam

Each week during the semester, we shared with you the International Organizations and UN News newsletter. Each edition highlighted key news from IOs, such as new reports, statements, appointments, and conferences. Our newsletters shed light on some of our amazing students 🎁 in our weekly student spotlights, shared UN-related podcasts and events, and flagged exciting internship opportunities. Through our newsletters, we also disseminate resource documents, such as our tips and tricks for Sourcing Internships. 

Since we started the specialization’s Twitter account @UNatColumbia in September 2019, we have not only witnessed an impressive growth of our followers, but importantly, meaningful engagements with students, faculty, UN staff members, and the general audience. Through the interactions with more than 2,600 followers, we hope to stimulate discussions on the role of multilateralism in order to address the critical challenges of present times and to highlight the work done at Columbia on these issues to international organizations and other interested audiences. If you are still not following us, please do at: @UNatColumbia.

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