Skip to content
openDemocracy
Subscribe

The UN’s high-level social justice events are exclusive and hypocritical

The UN gathers elite speakers in visa-restrictive places to speak on behalf of those actually affected

By Yasmina Benslimane
The UN’s high-level social justice events are exclusive and hypocritical
US secretary of state Antony Blinken addresses the International Migration Review Forum 2022 at the UN | Pacific Press Media Production Corp. / Alamy Stock Photo
Published:
Share

What do the International Migration Review Forum, COP26, and Generation Equality Forum have in common?

Sadly, one answer is that they are all exclusive and filled with hypocrisy – despite each aiming to tackle climate change, gender equality and migration, and to hold individuals and nations accountable for positive change in the world.

I saw this firsthand when I attended the first International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) at the UN headquarters in New York City last month. We met to review the Global Compact on Migration, the first inter-governmental agreement on common approaches to international migration, brokered by the UN in 2018.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. If you have any queries about republishing please contact us. Please check individual images for licensing details.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0