Dear readers…
Today is my last day as an intern at GYAN here in New York, but this is not the end of my adventure with GYAN. First of all I want to deeply express my gratefulness to all of the GYAN team members, thank you very much for this amazing time, thank for having offered me one of the biggest experience in my life. MERCI du fond du coeur.

Before I leave I want to share with you my experience in the small world of the United Nations and the Civil Society. I am saying small world because it’s been my feeling about the UN, it is the heart of the global world. When I arrived I was really impressed by all these diplomats, I have always heard about all their protocols and their obscure diplomatic language…So my surprise was big the day some of them came to sit at my table to share a coffee, this day my old prejudices disappeared. These people around me were just joking around or making fun of each others speeches during the formal meeting. No these people are not cold bureaucrats locked up in their tower; they are really dedicated to their job. I have been delighted to discover that even though international and national policies can appear as a “cold monster”, there is still room for true human relationship. Every single day diplomats, experts, teachers or simply activists work together to solve the problems of humanity, putting all their hearts and brains at the service of the people of the earth.

I also have to confess that the UN system needs to be reformed urgently. The first reason is the UN system needs to focus more on efficiency and real results for all the people. Also the UN system has to be more reactive to act faster or to simply act. All these devoted people working at the UN have in common the enthusiasm to make a better world, but the absence of success these last years for the institution has blown a wind of cynicism in this small village. Cynicism is one of the worst plagues in the political world because it makes people lose their enthusiasm, their ideas, their hopes and it finally leads to passivism and negativism. I would like to quote Master Yoda preventing us from falling into the dark side...More seriously this is not just a joke, we have to save our fervor and dreams from the dark side of humanity, we shouldn’t listen the others saying we can’t do anything else to better the world. This is where the role of youth is fundamental, because they are the ones carrying all the dreams and utopias, all the enthusiasm and love, when you are young everything is possible.

To conclude and to come back to the UN, most of the young people I met there were involved in the Civil Society so this is why the UN has to work more closely with the NGO world and the youth in order to bring a new fresh wind of enthusiasm and youngness inside this 60 years old institution.

Benjamin Sourice