Michaela Walsh, Chair of the 59th DPI/NGO Conference

SustainUSers - we need to seek this woman out! She was fantastic! Her support of youth and youth based initiatives was clear from the word go. She said involving the youth voice was her #1 priority and what a job she has done with the conference so far. There is a youth rep on each of the panels and round tables (although the rep in Wednesday's afternoon session fell WAY short of properly representing our age group), youth involved in the planning of the conference and in every way she possibly could. At the end of her talk she called on all the participants under the age of 30 to stand asking the other participants to seek out at least one of these individuals to share ideas. Bravo! It is very clear that Ms. Walsh understands the importance, and paucity of intergenerational mixing at these sort of events. It is easy for those with tons of experience to shrug off the tenderfeet of the bunch, but passing along the institutional knowledge associated with years of service in the UN system is priceless not only for the newbies but for the continuity and efficacy of civil society at the UN.

Interesting thoughts from her presentation:

She emphasised that this was not a conference for political statements or academic theories. She stated in plain english that the younger generation should know that she (and I'd assume the rest of civil society) encourages them to take hold of their future.