After hastily purchasing milk and a box of cereal for breakfast and taking it back to my rather luxurious room at the Hotel Affinia 50, I met up with Keeley and Kris in the main lobby.
It was a short walk to the UK Mission, situated on the 28th floor of number one Dag Hammerskjold Plaza. From that high up we had spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline - even though it was all looking a little grey, with the weather seeming unable to decide whether it was to be rain or shine.
We had a bit of both; as we approached the main UN building for a tour of the premises the heavens started opening. Luckily we got inside before the downpour really began. Although I'd done the tourists' tour before, this one was much better: the UK Mission's Third Committee expert Tom gave us lots of extra details and we even got to go inside the Security Council chamber.
Following this, we headed back to the Mission for a brief meeting with the UK's Ambassador to the UN, Sir Emyr Jones Parry (who we'd seen making a statement in the Plenary Hall earlier). He was a fascinating man, outlining to us his aims and achievements regarding the terrible poverty situation in Africa among other things. I got the impression that, although many modern-day politicians/diplomats are good at talking the talk, here was one who wanted to take the lead in action and really work for a better world.
Our afternoon agenda consisted of an 'informal' meeting in a UN conference room where the youth resolution was being discussed and negotiated. It was a very intensive session, but thankfully did not run to its full three hour allocation.
A lot of the national representatives present were quibbling at certain aspects of wording in the 13 paragraphs and it was hugely interesting to see which countries were bringing up which points. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to speak in the meeting - the UK's presidency of the EU means any statement made by our representatives is on behalf of all 25 member states. Additionally, the fact that Portugal are managing this particular resolution means EU countries don't really contribute in the informals - their points can be raised in separate co-ordination meetings.
So, the end of day one. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was excited anyway and really happy to be in NYC again. However, what is now clearer than ever is that to manage to influence anything which happens in the UN will be very difficult. Difficult though, not impossible. I truly believe that if this year's record number of youth reps can work together as a team and be organised with our plans, we can succeed in making a significant contribution.
