ICPD Global Youth Forum: It’s five o’clock somewhere

By Rebecca Oas, Ph.D. | December 5, 2012

Readers of the late Douglas Adams’ classic book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” will no doubt remember the following exchange, which occurs when protagonist Arthur Dent confronts the local bureaucrat who is attempting to demolish his house:

`…You hadn’t exactly gone out of your way to call attention to [the plans] had you? I mean like actually telling anyone or anything.’

`But the plans were on display…’

`On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.’

`That’s the display department.’

`With a torch.’

`Ah, well the lights had probably gone.’

`So had the stairs.’

`But look, you found the notice didn’t you?’

`Yes,’ said Arthur, `yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying “Beware of the Leopard.’

Sadly, the practice of deciding on a course of action, forcing it through by any means necessary, and then retroactively pointing out that one’s critics could have voiced their objections at the proper time and place is not just the stuff of comedy.

The ICPD Global Youth Forum, an initiative of the UNFPA, promotes itself as an opportunity for an open discussion of the issues affecting young people around the world, with its website proudly proclaiming, “no matter where you live, this is your chance shape the global agenda.”  Young people were encouraged to sign up as “virtual delegates” and follow the proceedings via the youth forum’s website.

The stated purpose of this event is the production of an outcome document which is intended to help set priorities for the future direction of the United Nations and its organizations as the Millennium Development Goals expire.

Among the five issues being addressed by the forum is “Families, youth-rights and well-being (including sexuality).”  According to the forum’s website, the plenary session on this topic was to be held at 5:05pm Eastern time, but it ended up being closer to 2am ET, which is 3pm at the site of the conference in Bali.  In keeping with the realities of global timekeeping, it was 5 o’clock somewhere: in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

For those lucky or intrepid enough to catch the plenary session on the live video feed, another obstacle awaited: unless the virtual delegates happened to be trilingual in English, French, and Malay, they would be unable to understand much of the session.  Most egregiously, the paper laying out the issue as the basis for the session was presented in Malay.  While the participants in Bali were equipped with headsets for translation, the virtual delegates got no such assistance, and many expressed their frustration on Twitter:

the most awaited session:Sexuality family and rights, but cannot understand anything!! why no ENGLISH???????

plz present your papers in English !!! you have forgotten the virtual delegates !!!

virtual delegates dont have access to translation services!!

No doubt the outcome paper generated by this forum will be held up as a representation of the views of the youth of the world, with much self-congratulation on the use of social media and modern technology to open the way for a meeting of diverse minds.  However, by holding the conference in a remote location, misrepresenting the time of the sessions, and ensuring that a key part of the most controversial session is in a tongue which is not even among the official UN languages, the agencies hosting the event are able to present a veneer of inclusivity on what is obviously a tightly stage-managed affair.

To return to the case of Arthur Dent quoted above, when international treaty bodies come around to demolish what is dearest to us – the principle that all humans, including the unborn, have dignity and rights that deserve protection – they will undoubtedly cite the outcomes of this conference and others like it and ask us why we didn’t let our voices be heard at the proper time and place.

“Beware of the Leopard”, indeed.

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