Can you hear me?
COVID-19, Internet connection, and finger-pointing is getting in between the United Nations and Global Diplomacy
Imagine you are about to address the Security Council of the United Nations. Your speech, well-rehearsed and polished, and a product of several minds, is not just your speech but that of your country; it’s position, stance, steadfast mannerism at the dinner table that lets everyone know where you stand when your drunk uncle brings up race, politics or religion.
“We, the United States, feel that…” — you address the dinner table like a Valedictorian speech — “this issue is of utmost importance and should be — “and, suddenly, you lose your voice. The people attending dinner, representatives of State, freeze up with contorted facial gestures, snapshotted at the moment, but all eyes on you and then… fade to black. A text appears in the middle of the screen, saying “you have lost connection.” Thus was the not-so-far-from-reality case of the US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft just last week.
A video segment curated from Al Jazeera Live shows members of the UN Security Council experiencing technical difficulties when conducting online conference calls. Surprisingly, diplomats at the UN are part of the group who, during quarantine procedures, also work at home as many of them are seen at their residences in New York with family photos and shelves of books, and the occasional passerby cat, seen in the background. They don their professional attire: suits, ties and blazers with their emblematic pin on the left pocket though there is no certainty if they are wearing anything underneath the desk, below the waist. From G-strings to Scooby-Doo pajamas, the possibilities could be endless. Why isn’t this something people are talking about?
“Excuse me, we have a request to pause… the US is having technical difficulty and Tunisia can’t hear very well.”
Around the globe people are using online video calls to continue their work, from teachers and students to CEOs and interns; Zoom and Party House apps being trendy and a perfectly-timed favorite, among others. But for the UN, an organism extending to 193 countries with its deep international pocket of resources, things aren’t going as smoothly.
In the video, many diplomats are seen waiting for other members to enter the call, similar to students waiting for their classmates to start the session, and are interrupted by others who have not silenced their microphones. You can hear coughing and audio white noise from participants while Ambassadors speak and are repeatedly told “we need all mics closed, please.”
Mr. Huang Xia, a special envoy for the Great Lakes region, is told to stop his speech and in the video someone is heard saying: “Mr. Xia, excuse me. We have a request to pause… The US is having technical problems and Tunisia can’t hear very well.”
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft, having retreated to her Kentucky home while the rest stayed in New York, was lagged out in mid-speech and unable to reconnect.
And following UN protocol, members of the council couldn’t continue until the US had made its say which lead to every ambassador and delegate awkwardly starring at each other, without blinking, like students and their teachers waiting for their other classmates, for several minutes. Kelly Craft’s deputy jumped in the call, most likely not from rural Kentucky, and finished her speech.
Despite these difficulties, the UN endures. Or tries to. The pandemic, and internet connection apparently, has laid siege to global diplomacy and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has foreseen its approach.
“A signal of unity and resolve from the (Security) Council would count for a lot during this anxious time,” Antonio Guterres told the divided members.
There has been a lot of finger-pointing between leaders as who is to blame for this contingency, tensions rising between China and the US especially; but Guterres warns the council that COVID-19 is “potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.”
“Its no the time for blaming and finger pointing…”
In a UN report released last April, it highlights that the novel coronavirus not only threatens global peace and security but human rights as well. The lack of transparency and trust in government institutions, armed groups looking for opportunities to attack or sabotage, internally displaced people and refugees, political tensions due to the postponement or downright annulment of elections, all situations that couldn’t be put on hold and temporarily close down like your local barbershop, will undoubtedly worsen with COVID-19 serving as it’s catalyst.
In the report titled “We’re all in this together,” Guterres makes note that human rights should be the guidance for government decision-making and not be putting them in jeopardy.
“The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Guterres adds. That has proven to be an even bigger challenge.
“It’s no the time for contests,” the Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia says, aware of the evident speed bumps the Council faces, “who did what and who was more successful than others. It’s not the time for blaming and finger-pointing. It’s time to help, to share experiences, and listen and listen to each other and find ways to work.”
US Ambassador Kelly Craft jumps in on this train and says that taking on this pandemic “requires global action, international solidarity, and unity of purpose,” somehow oblivious to President Trump’s past remarks towards China.
She did iterate concerns that the US has, stating that there is a “need for complete transparency and timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community,” shedding some light on China’s controversial decision to silence the warnings of doctors and reporters in Wuhan.
China’s Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun could’ve taken a subtle jab back, talk about Donald Trump’s excessive use of the word “great” and orange dye. About how he praises predominately white male militiamen protesting in Michigan but condemns the George Floyd riots in Minnesota. Or about the time he pondered on the possibility of injecting anti-bacterial gel into ourselves to kill the virus.
The Chinese Ambassador played it cool and said “to overcome this global challenge, solidarity, cooperation, mutual support, and assistance is what we need while beggar-thy-neighbor or scapegoating will lead us nowhere.”
“How are they supposed to speak to the world?”
It seems like everyone is wanting to cooperate during this pandemic, but what seems to be the problem? Oh, right. The UN’s videoconference system is shit.
Instead of being up to date with innovative video call apps like Zoom (it’s founder Eric S. Yuan stated in a blog post that his app was seeing 200 million daily meeting participants in last March alone) and House Party which are being used by millions of people around the world or going old fashion with Facebook video chat and Microsoft Skype, the UN is still using their archaic system based in Brindisi, Italy, and is showing no intention in changing that habit.
Al Jazeera English reporter James Bay asked UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric (most likely via video call using one of the apps mentioned above) “How happy is the UN with the technology it’s providing for the Security Council if the UN Security Council can’t hear each other? How are they supposed to speak to the world?”
Stephane Dujarric told Al Jazeera: “We are all trying our best to accommodate the Security Council and all its member states and we will continue to work through whatever technical hitches there may have been.”
“Working through” with what you have may not be the best call for this case, especially when the solution to your tech problem is one free downloadable app away. And while the novel coronavirus cases roar in numbers, UN Ambassadors and delegates will be talking into a black void, darkened by an outdated system, asking if the world can hear them so they can get business done.
