FUTURES RESEARCH

9106 – Future Observatory 4 – United Nations and others

Since I was first at university in the 1960s, I had wanted to work with the United Nations, and specifically with UNESCO.  In the 1960s I even was on the mailing list for the UNESCO news magazine.  Of course I was unable to fulfill this dream and went into advertising.

I got the opportunity once more when I joined the Open University, and especially when I went to Ethiopia -- which, being in the Third World, was the side of the UN I wanted to work with.

Paradoxically, however, the first part of the UN I actually advised was UNCTAD.  This is its little-known trade body. Why I was invited to attend a three-day task force I simply don't know.  Somehow or other my name must have got on their great and good list.  Anyway, I was invited to join a task force talking about the education of accounting professionals across the globe.  This was just about the one business subject I didn't really know -- though of course that didn't stop me from going!

The meeting was in UNCTAD's headquarters in Geneva.  It was the first time I had been to Geneva, which I always thought was a place in the mountains.  Of course it is quite low lying, on the Lake Geneva.  And, although it was approaching the winter, there was something of a heat-wave and I had to sleep with my window open! Because of all the UN personnel there, Geneva is a very expensive place to live, but it is a nice city and I eventually found some cheap places to eat.

It was the first time I had been at a meeting where there were interpreters, since the dozen or so of us at meeting that came from different countries.  It was rather strange to sit there, with an earpiece hooked over my ear, listening with one ear to what was being said in one language and hearing in the other the interpreter's translation of it.

I may not have known much about accounting, though in fact I had taught accounting at IBM and had been involved in it with the Open University, but the essence of the meeting was about education -- and distance education was the expertise I was able to provide.  I was never one to hide my light under a bushel, and I finished my contribution to the meeting with a well thought out series of suggestions as to how they could standardise accounting education worldwide.  In this context, incidentally, where for almost every other business subject the Americans led, in accountancy it was the British professional bodies which led; since the Americans only were allowed to organise by state. Anyway, I presented my ideas -- which I thought were excellent, but probably no one else agreed.

Of course I was later involved with the UN itself, and specifically with its Food Programme, in Ethiopia.

I was, even later still, involved indirectly, through its US Millennium Project which was in theory the American Committee reporting to the UN University in Japan. In fact, it really used the UN University as a cover for its operations.  I don't know if it ever reported back to Tokyo.

My biggest contribution came though because of contact through the Millennium Project.  Hazel Henderson, the very well-known futurist writer, was working with a UN task force and was also working with UNESCO on its meeting in Stockholm.  She arranged for me to attend that UNESCO meeting.

This was, I was to find out, a very important meeting of UNESCO.  It was the first intergovernmental meeting that had taken place for the best part of a decade. Its remit was to produce a charter of cultural rights -- equivalent to the UN's charter of human rights.  It was a large meeting, attended by representatives from some 170 governments, of whom 40 to 50 were government ministers and one was a Prime Minister. There were also 40 to 50 NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations), of which I was one!  The format of the meeting was a general assembly in which the decisions were made, which was the province only of the governmental representatives.  For these sessions the rest of us were consigned to the balcony of the large conference hall, to be mere spectators.  Even so, it was fascinating to watch the political machinations taking place on the floor.

However, between each of the main sessions there were individual break-out sessions on specific subjects which were fed back into the main meeting -- with the chairman of these reporting back the decisions taken by these more specialised meetings.  This was where I was able to make my contribution.

In fact I took full advantage of the opportunity, and made major comments on a number of subjects. I remember one in particular.  The Third World delegates were pressing hard for a strengthening of intellectual property rights.  I stood up and pointed out that, whilst I sympathised with their wish to protect their native songs and dances, one big advantage that they had against the developed nations was that they could use the intellectual property of these without paying for these; in other words with impunity.  In a strengthening these rights they were in fact the depriving themselves of unique advantages.  This aspect of the cultural rights was watered down after my intervention!

It was a fascinating meeting, and it was very invigorating to be involved in the decision-making at such a level. It also gave me an insight into just how such organisations are run at the intergovernmental level.  It also meant that I was able to report that the Futures Observatory was formally recognised by the UN as an NGO, though I don't believe anyone in the OUBS took me seriously -- but of course it was true.

The other main task force I got involved with was part of the second UK Foresight Programme, run by the DTI. This was the one where, I believe, John Daniels (the OU’s VC) brought me in.  On the other hand, I had never been impressed with the UK's Foresight Programmes, since they seemed to be mainly made up the great and good -- organised by industry sector -- telling everyone what had happened in the past rather than what would happen in the future.

However, in the second round it was decided to add on couple of specialist subjects.  One of these was the impact of ageing in the population. This had its own task force, and this was where I was assigned. It was the one task force which was not held ransom by any of the existing establishment pressure groups. It really did set out to look at the future.  We met every two to three weeks or so and presented various reports.  I joined with the representative from the Department of Education to produce one on the future of education for an ageing population. It ultimately proved to be a well managed task force, with civil servants doing their usual excellent job; and its final report was excellent.

[back]     [home]

hits