My experience at the 2024 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) as an intern was a wonderfully serendipitous week. I was invited to join the IBVM/CJ NGO team for the second week of the HLPF as I was planning travel to North America at the time, and was able to rearrange my time to visit the United Nations (UN) in New York.
My first day at the UN was a whirlwind of meeting people, becoming acquainted with the city and the buildings of the UN and the NGO, where I strived to learn from the NGO team, the IBVM Sisters who had travelled and the Youth Representative who had been interning for five months already.
We visited the UN where I became oriented on the focus of the HLPF beyond just ‘reflections on the Sustainable Development Goals’, but as a deeper, unpacked exploration of programmes and policies and the variety of changes made by different countries. This was extremely advantageous to see and understand at the start of my experience, as I was able to implement their process in the summaries of Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) I wrote during this week.
Summarising the Zimbabwean VNR was a key part of my experience at the 2024 HLPF because it not only exposed me to hands-on time with policy and practice, and relevant data on girls being supported in Zimbabwe, but also to the general jargon and structure of UN documentation. I went to a side event held by the Permanent Mission for Eritrea, which was a closer look at their data from their VNR, as well as previous VNRs and past data to demonstrate progress. I found this event to be extremely interesting, as it connected me further to the SDGs and the countries striving towards them as opposed to just reading the reports.
My experience of the HLPF brought me closer to the goals of the UN and member states in the SDGs, but also to the goals of the NGO and how my role within this organisation can function. I was able to explore the UN and the capacity for different bodies to advocate for and make change, which was eye-opening as a young intern. I felt very grateful to be provided the opportunity to visit the IBVM/CJ NGO to the UN during the High-Level Political Forum, because it has given me insights I can take with me as I continue this internship, and in my career going forward.
Author: Lucia Mascorella (Loreto Kirribilli, IBVM/CJ intern)
