Ten years ago, I watched as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Irish UN Youth Delegate programme in Dublin. As I left the event, I ran into Mary Robinson on the street, excitedly telling her just what was happening around the corner. Little did I imagine that just a year later we would, together, recount this story to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he visited Iveagh House to mark Ireland’s 60th anniversary of UN Membership, or that four years later, I would be briefing her on the International Day of Education – an initiative created through a General Assembly resolution I led on behalf of Ireland at the UN.
It’s hard to imagine that a decade has passed since Eoin O’Liatháin and I stood on the balcony of the General Assembly watching the gavel drop on the 2030 Agenda (the blueprint for a sustainable future for which Ireland served as co-facilitator of negotiations). We were Ireland’s first ever Youth Delegates to the UN, armed with all-access passes that brought us face-to-face with world leaders, Malala Yousafzai, soccer players David Beckham and Kaká, even James Bond himself, Daniel Craig.
We met young people from around the world committed to creating a better, safer, more prosperous and sustainable future for everyone, everywhere. Those weeks together in New York, were incredibly special; exchanging ideas and supporting each others’ initiatives. I still meet up with those friends whenever we cross paths and continue to follow their adventures on Instagram.
From a professional perspective, the UNYD programme offered a unique insight into multilateral diplomacy. The goodwill afforded to Irish youth delegates is unparalleled, and so many people encouraged us and were generous with their time, explaining Ireland’s role on the world stage including through Irish Aid, as well as the importance of civil society engagement and the critical role of meaningful youth participation at all levels of decision-making.
Prior to the Youth Delegate programme, I had volunteered with the Irish Red Cross and despite participating in various activities abroad, I had never considered moving overseas but it was a formative experience that proved to be a springboard for my career.
Thereafter, I participated in an intercultural and interfaith dialogue trip to Morocco, Egypt and Qatar as a UN Alliance of Civilisations Fellow. Later, as a Global Health Corps Fellow, I trained at Yale University and travelled to Tanzania, while working at UNAIDS as a Policy Officer on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
I returned to the Irish Mission to the UN as an Advisor, supporting Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason on the Security Council campaign and as Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women before being appointed chief speechwriter and advisor on education and gender to the President of the UN General Assembly for several years.
My most recent work as Senior Political Affairs Officer and Chief of Staff to the Special Coordinator for the UN’s first ever assessment on Afghanistan, a role that brought me to interesting places from Kabul to the White House, Moscow to Tehran.
Right now, I’m in Vienna, working at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe as the Special Communications Adviser to the Secretary General, and I still rely on both hard and soft skills gained from the Youth Delegate Programme in my day-to-day work – everything from how best to collaborate with team members from diverse backgrounds to understanding text-based negotiations. There is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Irish Youth Delegate Programme.
– Orla Murphy, 2015-2016 UN Youth Delegate
