The Future of the United Nations and Multilateralism

Online event - debate style - the Future of the United Nations.

With Gillian Triggs and Ramesh Thakur!

Seen the news lately? It's not good! Whether you're a fan of international relations, consider yourself an expert on the legalities of the arms trade, or are looking at a career in a Multinational NGO - it might be getting harder to imagine a future that isn't mired in uncertainty and conflict.

Join us as we dive into the future of the United Nations and Multilateralism. Together we will attempt to chart a positive course through topics like:

• What is the role of the United Nations in averting conflict?

• Are our multilateral organisations effective?

• Is international law effective at preventing violence?

• What is Australia's place in all of this?

Debate style - By way of introducing the topic, the UNAA Young Professionals will make the case that the future is disunited, the United Nations is struggling, and a future where nations work together to solve global challenges is out of reach.

Sound bleak? Don't worry! We have some of Australia's leading thinkers joining us to tell us we are wrong, cooperation amongst nations is alive and well, and the UN and broader accordance wit international law is here to stay.

Get involved - after we have heard both sides of the argument, it's over to you. submit questions for our experts and get involved in the discussion. It's on line and free for all to join.

Registration is vital - so get your tickets now and we look forward to seeing you there!

UNAA Young Professionals

Get involved at unaayp.org.au

Our experts:

Ramesh Thakur

Ramesh Thakur is Emeritus Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, where he was Director of the Centre for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He was formerly Senior Vice Rector of the United Nations University and UN Assistant Secretary-General. Educated in India and Canada, he has held academic appointments in Fiji, New Zealand, Canada and Australia and been a consultant to the Australian, New Zealand and Norwegian governments on international security issues.

He was a Commissioner and one of the main authors of The Responsibility to Protect; wrote Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s second reform report; a Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation and Foundation Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario; and Co-Convenor of the Asia–Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. His books include Global Governance and the UN; The Group of Twenty (G20); The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy; The United Nations, Peace and Security; and The Nuclear Ban Treaty.

Gillian Triggs

Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs was the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2012-2017, and was Dean of the Faculty of Law and Challis Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney from 2007-12 and Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law from 2005-7. Gillian is a former Barrister with Seven Wentworth Chambers and a Governor of the College of Law.

Gillian graduated in Law from the University of Melbourne in 1968 and gained a PhD in 1982. She has combined an academic career with international commercial legal practice and worked with governments and international organisations advising on including law including human rights law. She is focused on the implementation in Australian law of the human rights treaties to which Australia is a party, and on working with nations in the Asia Pacific region on practical approaches to human rights.

Gillian has been the Australian representative on the Council of Jurists for the Asia Pacific Forum for National Human Rights Institutions, Chair of the Board of the Australian International Health Institute, a member of the Attorney General's International Legal Service Advisory Council and Chair of the Council of Australian Law Deans.