We were youth delegates during the year of Ireland’s successful campaign to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, so there were many highlights throughout the programme. Speaking on behalf of Ireland at the General Assembly, meeting people from across the world on a variety of issues and subjects were incredible experiences. A personal favourite was returning to my former secondary school to speak with students and staff on the work of the youth delegate programme.
I was turning 21 at the time of the programme, and am now 27.
I heard about the programme during an event at Iveagh House with the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, where I was presenting project work I was leading at the time to improve subsistence agriculture in resource-constrained agrarian communities.
I came to be involved as a result of hearing the then-youth delegates speak about their experiences, and believed it would be a programme that would greatly improve my understanding of the world around me (spoiler alert — it did).
Having such an in-depth exposure to as many meetings, policymakers, and experiences gave me a profound understanding of how global and domestic affairs operate, and the nuances required to be effective in these settings. It gave me an understanding of the areas of work that I am interested in, and those in which I am committed to.
Looking back, the biggest challenge was probably understanding how complex change within systems actually is.We saw first-hand on multiple occasions the barriers, challenges, and difficulties involved in creating meaningful, non-performative change. This is also the experience I probably found the most value in going forward.
Today, I live in London. I have just completed my MPA over at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), where I focused on economics and public policy, primarily in the innovation space.
I’m conducting research with the IIPP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, where we work on ways to analyse and support city governments across the world to become more dynamic in addressing challenges and priorities that they face. Definitely lots of fun to work on scales all the way from UN work down to a city level.
If I was to give any advice to young people thinking about getting involved in activism and youth participation, it would be to spend time and effort in understanding how to be effective in the work you do.
Having a desire to enable more prosperous futures is a fantastic thing, and it’s made a lot stronger when you focus on the skills and techniques to improve your ability to bring these changes to life.
– Jack O’Connor, 2019-2020 UN Youth Delegate
