Future Council at the UN General Assembly - the highlights

Dear friends and supports,

Well, that's a wrap for the Future Council at the United Nations General Assembly 79 in NYC!

As you can imagine, it was a wild adventure.

The children were involved in various events which included an exclusive function at the UN Foundation (where Ruby performed), a media/press conference in the UNDG Media Zone, the film screening inside the UN building, and they all appeared in the Once Upon a Future Campaign which was shared widely across the conference, the UN media and social channels and a very special appearance in Times Square which all the children and families attended.

The children also got to witness the full pageantry of global power. The whirring drones above the building, the closed city blocks guarded by endless police, the patrolling boats on the Hudson River, and the cavalcade of vehicles that delivered each world leader to the summit. 

Perhaps most impactful though was the tour inside the UN building itself. The children were given remarkable access and were able to go inside the General Assembly hall plus the very exclusive Security Counsel - which is where countries in conflict hold their discussions. An extraordinary opportunity given that Zelensky, Netanyahu and Biden were all in attendance at the conference and would no doubt have found themselves in that very same room.

As they stood by the Secretary General’s chair and wandered the halls, passing a broken looking Antonio Guterres and his entourage, it was clear that above all else, global governance and geopolitical discussions became normalised for them. They became real and tangible - these were real chairs, at real tables, sat in by real people who made big decisions on behalf of others. None of us can know what impact this experience will have on the children, or what may come of it in the years and decades ahead (I’m pretty sure some of them may be running the place by 2050).

What was also crystal clear was the urgent need for new institutions. The UN has done an extraordinary job of managing global governance since World War II but it did feel ill-equipped to deal with the new realities we are facing. I had a hunch of that intellectually, but needed to have the felt and embodied experience to confirm it. There was very little light in the building, it was inhabited largely by many men in suits with sullen eyes, and even the art on the the walls predominantly depicted the worst of humanity - images of violence, oppression and darkness. There was a desperate need for nature, for light, and most importantly, for love.

Seeing the children wandering the halls provided that juxtaposition so clearly and I now feel even more galvanised to find a way to connect and network more bright, wise and caring children around the world, so that the Future Council can became one of the many new institutions required in this unique moment.

We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped support us in taking the #FutureCouncil to the UN General Assembly:

Wild Earth Oceania Film Festival, Phantm, Intrepid Travel and the Honorable Tony Burke MP and the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.

-Damon Geameau

Learn more about the Future Council film and movement here 🚌🌍💚

Music and film credits: @Future__Council @Regenerators @RubyRodgersMusic @AppleStreetMusic