How might we build a culture of integrity in the UN?

The Young UN: Agents for change are an internal network of over 350 young professionals across the UN system who want to identify key areas where they can support positive, necessary reform within the UN.

We helped design and facilitate a workshop on the topic of ‘integrity’ at UN Head Quarters in New York. We began by hearing stories from senior staff inside and outside the UN, who shared their stories about conflicts of interest that had emerged for them in the course of their work.

We then hosted an Open Space session designed to allow the 45 young professionals who attended, to find others who wanted to talk more about the same issues.

The output from this Open Space session will be typed up and shared widely with the network. This workshop fed into the wider strategy for systems change of The Young UN, which involves:

• Starting a conversation: providing a forum for open and frank discussion regarding challenges the UN faces  
• Leading by example: by being solutions focused and acting as ambassadors for change within the organization  
• Advocating change: promoting solutions to address key challenges