80 years after its creation, the United Nations mission is as big as ever.
But can it stay relevant to younger audiences?
In this first episode of our UN 80th Anniversary Series Roundtable's, He Yang speaks with Qin Qian, a content creator who uses his insider UN experience to connect China's youth with his popular social media channel.
They explore why relevance matters and how young voices are stepping up to reimagine the UN for the next generation.
We're live from our studios in Beijing.
This is Roundtable.
I'm Steve, and I thank you so much for sharing your time with us today.
For the show, I'm with Yushun and Yushan.
First on the program.
Eighty years after its founding, the United Nations faces a defining challenge bridging the gap between its monumental global mission and a new generation.
Can this venerable institution capture the imagination of digital native youth?
In the premiere of our special series commemorating the UN's 80th anniversary Roundtable's, He Yang sat down with Qin Qian, a former UN insider turned content creator.
Through his social media channel, Qin is building a vital bridge, demystifying the UN's work for millions of young Chinese.
Their conversation delves into the urgent fight for relevance and how a rising generation is stepping forward to reshape the UN for the future.
Enjoy.
Qin Qian.
Welcome to Roundtable.
Thank you.
Thank you, He Yang.
Qin Qian, you've been doing such a great job making the UN more relatable to young people, especially through your Bilibili channel.
For those who are not familiar, Bilibili is a leading video platform in China.
Could you share with us what your channel is all about and what made you start it?
Thank you.
As you have already mentioned, my channel is focused on the United Nations.
But of course we also cover international law, multilateralism or maybe international relations in general.
So I previously worked for the UN system.
That's where I frequently receive messages from my friends asking about news reports related to the UN, whether this is true, whether it is false.
I'm kind of tired of answering all questions again and again.
Then I came up with an idea.
Why not just start a channel to tell the stories of the UN as an insider, especially when there is a lot of misinformation and sometimes even disinformation?
So of course the UN has their own channel, but you know they do things usually in a much more safer way.
I try to do things in a more untraditional way, like young generation, which young generations would prefer.
So we tell the stories in a way that initiated by the young people and for the young people.
So now over half of My audience are between 15 to 35, which is like teenagers.
So I'm very happy with that percentage.
That's wonderful.
Also just go a little bit deeper into.
You've mentioned untraditional or unconventional ways that can connect with young people.
Is it basically through video?
But that's pretty common these days.
If you don't mind, could you disclose a little bit about what's your secret weapon?
I see.
When we talk the traditional way, usually you see reports, right?
You see news release introducing what UN is doing.
But they are all very long, very formal, sometimes formal interview.
But for me, I try to find something interesting, like insight.
For example, maybe delegates just fight with each other.
Maybe sometimes they will have what's that uncommon in diplomacy.
So I try to find that things interesting and which is attractive to people.
So I do it in a way that more popular. more welcomed by the young people.
That's my secret.
Thank you for revealing your secret.
And that's a great example of how New media, but with very selective eyes and presentation, can introduce big ideas to new and younger audiences.
Since launching your channel, have you received any memorable feedback from your audiences comments messages, something that really stuck with you?
I mean, I think you can imagine that I can receive... tons of messages every day.
So I received many comments, many feedback, sometimes positive, sometimes negative.
Actually, I really like to read the negative comments that criticizing me or criticizing like the UN system, because I find out that while people are sometimes criticizing the work of UN, they are actually expecting that the UN system can do something.
They expect that UN can maintain the peace.
They expect that UN can reduce the poverty.
So when people realize that the UN is not a global government, It has limited power and it has limited capacity to do things.
It cannot fix everything and they feel disappointed.
So sometimes they criticize.
But this encourages me to further introduce what the UN is doing and what's the obstruction in front of us and what we can do, what we as Chinese or what we as young people can do for the UN and for the global issues.
So that's the encouragement.
So I'm also very happy to receive messages from some audience that After watching my videos, they decided to work for the UN or for the international organization, and they succeeded.
So they are now starting their career there.
And I'm also very happy for them.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
It's moments like that.
Genuine feedback.
That show your content is doing more than informing and it's inspiring people.
That must be a great place to be.
Many young people have heard of the UN, but few understand how it operates.
Your content seems to fill that gap.
How do you go about turning these big, complicated systems and ideas into something people actually want to watch and understand?
I see.
I think the question is really good because, You know, one of the series is introducing Security Council, introducing the meetings.
And meetings, usually it takes two hours, three hours, or even a whole day to discuss global issues.
And most of the contents are very boring, to be honest.
As a former UN staff I never watched that meetings that frequently.
But if you choose like 10 minutes or 20 minutes from that eight hour meeting you, you will find something interesting and i try to make it as introducing a race like olympic games.
So i have my voice over and i show the most highlighted minutes of that meeting and people can understand what is going on and people can really enjoy.
So that's how I created my content.
And you've had a chance to go behind the scenes at the UN headquarters, agencies and programs you know working there.
What's something surprising or even fun that most people don't know but should know about the UN?
I think many people imagine that all UN staff work together in new york with like formal dress, with ties, with suits and sitting in the luxury halls or or conference rooms, but that's not the truth.
Uh, when someone mentioned the un, they actually often refer to general assembly or security council, but that's just very little bit, very little part of the UN as a family, as like a large organization.
Most stuff actually work in the field, for example, in Afghanistan, even in Gaza, in Cambodia, all over the world.
So when I went to Nairobi, Nairobi is actually the UN's headquarter office in Africa.
Their office building is in a forest.
So it's quite different from New York, which is in Manhattan.
And you can see monkeys stealing food from the staff and the diplomats. in that office building.
That's quite interesting, I think.
Yeah, it is.
And you've helped many see the UN beyond the headlines.
From your perspective as a content creator, how would you describe the UN's role in the world stage today?
I would say the UN remains an indispensable platform in an era of rising unilateralism, we can say.
The UN is facing more challenges today.
But still it is providing a space, at least a space for countries to talk, to negotiate and to coordinate.
That's the most important function of the UN.
So countries delegates diplomats, they come together to discuss and respond to the sheer challenges, from climate change to public health or even global security.
I think the UN is not perfect.
We can say it's not perfect, but we don't actually have a better platform right now.
So 80 years ago, the leaders around the world created this organization to save succeeding generation from the surge of war which twice in our lifetime.
That's in the UN Charter.
So the UN is anyway successful, since we have not yet When is the World War III?
And that's at least what UN has done.
Could you break it down for us about the inner workings of the UN?
When these two words United Nations come up, people think about member states and representatives who sit at a big table in a big hall and discussing these presumably very important issues.
But actually the organization is far more than that, right?
There are different programs agencies and these are, you can argue, the people who are doing a lot more of the heavy lifting or, equally as important.
And could you shed some light on that side of the work the UN does?
So in New York, New York is basically a decision-making body.
So the delegates, diplomats you mentioned, they are making decisions.
They are guiding what UN should do.
And the Secretariat, which is all the UN staff.
They are actually doing things according to this guideline.
And they have different pillars, they have different roles.
For example, if Security Council have a resolution regarding like Gaza or regarding Palestine, They make their decision.
And so the staff, the UN staff, we work on the issues.
For example, humanitarian work, they actually convey the food, everything else.
Also, they have a great focus on development program.
For example UNDP, United Nations Development Programme.
They actually work in, I think, over 100 countries in the world.
For example, climate change, water, clean water, food.
Agriculture.
So actually had many functions in addition to New York, like the conference rooms.
So I think that's the important part that people should realize.
It feels like the organization is at an important junction.
There's a lot of pressure to reform, especially as funding becomes tighter, but the foundation offers of cooperation and common standards.
And that's something we can't afford to lose, especially now.
And when it comes to international cooperation, how do you see the UN's role evolving?
The UN has been, and will continuously be, a platform for dialogue between traditional powers and emerging voices, particularly the Global South.
However, the UN's role highly depends on the political view of its member states, as you mentioned.
It actually depends on the decisions made by the delegates there.
So we are witnessing pushback from some countries with regards to sustainable development and global governance, which is a dangerous signal to international cooperation.
But we can see still.
Most countries are willing to cooperate and work together for a sustainable future for all.
That's true.
Also, we're seeing America's pulling back on multiple fronts.
And when you've got the country that supposedly contributes the most to UN's funding pulling back, and then that's going to obviously have a lot of an impact on the current way the UN is operating.
Do you feel somewhat a little pessimistic at this particular time looking at all of this?
And we do see multiple wars happening in Gaza, in Ukraine in recent years.
So what's a sobering thought? sort of reality check coming from your side?
I always hear people saying that UN is dying because of growing numbers of war conflicts.
And, of course, as you mentioned, the pushback, the pull over of the United States from many organizations.
But actually, UN has already gone suffer from many similar issues in the 80 years history.
For example, during the Cold War, the UN faced UN war situation.
So actually, The fact that UN can do many things, it started from the end of Cold War.
And before that, actually, it's more likely a battleground for superpowers.
So today we still see challenges, but we still see more opportunities because, compared with the history, we see that the global south has more power here and they are cooperated in a way that and actually reform the global system.
And I think this is important for the UN as the platform.
Within the UN framework.
What do you think China's most important contribution to the global community has been so far?
I think China is a representative developing country.
It is part of the global south and its success in economy and social development has proved that a developing country can actually develop and help and support the global governance.
China is also the only country from the Global South that holds a permanent seat in the Security Council.
So this is, of course, another very important role in global security.
China is now leading the discussion regarding global social and economic development.
We see China is initiating many new concepts, for example, the three initiatives, right?
Global development initiative, global culture initiative, global security initiative.
We see many concepts and we see China is actually practically practice this concept.
We are providing the Chinese systems and Chinese solution and that's important for the global community in general.
As a Chinese content creator, working with all of this content and trying to communicate the worthwhile snippets that you do push out in your channel specific contribution.
Maybe an example from China are you most proud of?
I see.
That could be a quite difficult question.
Oh, is it?
Because China is initiating so many projects and we can see maybe one thing is China contributes most peacekeepers among five permanent members of the Security Council.
I think that's the important contribution to the global security.
And one more thing is, China is not only providing financial support, like funds or other support.
China is actually providing an alternative narrative to global governance.
It's different from the traditional Western style development model.
China is actually giving a good example.
It is itself is an example for many developing countries to follow.
So I think that's the most important contribution.
Could you also zero in on what do you think is the different but right thing that the China example could be?
Because most examples previously initiated by the Western countries.
They are already developed countries.
So their example is based on their historical development pattern.
But today it's a different world.
It's a different generation.
But China is actually developed in like this century.
And China's development is quite easy to follow, to focus on economy, to focus on people.
And China doesn't have the, let's say, ambition to change any political system, to change the domestic issue.
It's not China's focus.
So I think that's why China's model is now welcomed by many developing countries, because most countries from the global south are expecting a fair, just and peaceful international environment.
This is similar.
This is actually the same where China is also seeking for.
Sometimes these contributions don't get as much visibility but, as you've highlighted in your channel, and they do matter, especially when they're rooted in collaboration rather than imposition.
China's support for development through UN agencies shows a kind of long-term thinking that is very much needed right now.
Looking ahead, what role do you think China can play in shaping the future of international cooperation?
Withdraw from some UN agency and cut the funding actually provide opportunities for China.
Because previously funding means somehow to some extent the dominance of the agency.
Because we know in the UN system sometimes you have budget which is regular budget and you have voluntary contribution.
So voluntary contribution means it's not like member fee, it's that I voluntarily contribute my funding, my financial resource, to specific projects.
So if you provide more funding, actually you can decide like to donate your funding to the projects you prefer.
So if the United States decided to withdraw, actually the WACOM can allow more countries to step in.
So we can see now China is quite positive, providing more financial resources to some agencies and start South-South cooperation.
I think that's actually a good signal for China.
But of course the sudden withdrawal can sometimes cause trouble, because usually the UN system's funding is annually.
So it's annual base.
Basically, if you suddenly cut the funding for next year, it takes time to reorganize the whole thing.
That's actually, I think, the most challenging things for the security general this year at UNAT at that specific timing.
So they are discussing how to maybe reorganize the system or maybe even cut some stuff.
That could be a challenge, for short term at least.
Very interesting.
While other countries who want to fill the vacuum might need to also open up their coffers a bit more.
A lot of our listeners have curious minds.
What advice do you have for young people who are interested in international governance and management?
How can they get more involved or gain firsthand experience with such systems?
I think my advice will be just start where you are. just follow international issues.
We are actually in a time that you can easily access too many information.
Most information of the UN system is all online.
They have official website.
So you can engage in social discussion.
You can even apply for internships or career or volunteer with organization, not only the United Nations, but maybe some NGO that working on SDG related goals.
I think After all, knowledge is power.
So to learn, to research and to practice, that's the most important thing to every people who want to contribute to sustainable development.
You say it really well, but how does somebody who has zero experience in the field try to engage in the practice aspect of things?
You don't need to be a un staff to practice in sdg, for example.
You can simply have a seminar, have a discussion with your family, with your local community or even in your university.
You can start a discussion and you can try to have a starting group that discuss the information from the UN official website.
Everything is open on the UN official website.
So you don't need to be a staff to work on SDG related topics.
Actually, there are many opportunities that we can do.
Just give one example.
There is a platform called UNV, so it's United Nations Volunteer.
It has on-site volunteer, which require maybe more experience, but it has online volunteer that there's opportunities required by different UN agencies.
For example, they need translation for textbook.
They need to translate from English to Spanish or English to French or English to Chinese.
Or they need to make a video.
You need to make a video for some UN agency that they are short of staff so they want some volunteer to help them.
And that's quite important, quite interesting opportunities for young people.
And it actually requires no working experience.
So I think that's what you can start with.
Before I let you go, what exciting things are on your horizon?
Are there any new topics you're curious to explore or other directions you'd love to take your work in, whether it's with the UN or beyond?
And I know you have something like 3 million subscribers who are tuning in to what you have to say.
So what's up with that then?
I don't quite have a full plan because I'm not a full-time content creator.
But of course, I'm trying to create more interesting content.
We just started a new series on historical diplomatic events.
So we also plan to visit more UN office in the field around the world, not only in China or New York.
We try to visit more continents to see how UN staff working on the ground.
So I think there are still many interesting topics we can discover.
That's our initial plan for now.
Thank you, Qin Qian, for your thoughtful insights.
We really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.
That was He Yang along with Qin Qian, a former UN insider turned content creator.
What an interesting discussion.
Any thoughts on that that you'd like to share, Yushan?
Well, when I first started to reach out to Mr Qin Qian and learn about his work, I found out the charm of the fact that he works online previously as a staff member within the UN system, but nowadays focusing more on content creating, especially online, and he's had such a big impact on young people learning about the UN and everything.
I actually checked out his video.
One was What do UN canteens serve as lunch in that one specific UN facility?
So details like that really grab people's attention quite easily.
And yeah, after chatting with him a bit, I do truly agree with him on just how much UN has improved, provided such an important stage for the global leaders and delegates to have such a place to negotiate, to give coordinations for the future.
And also, as highlighted by him in his chat with He Yang Indeed, China has contributed so much and also collaborated with UN in quite various ways in the past decades.
Nowadays.
At present, more than 1800 Chinese military personnel are carrying out missions across seven UN peacekeeping mission areas and at the UN headquarters.
Also China, as Qinqian mentioned is, I think, one of the largest, the second largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and providing more peacekeepers than any of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council.
So yeah, he's talked about many of the keynote takeaways, both as an insider and also as a content creator who is keen to introduce the UN and also China's contribution, China's role played in this very historic relationship to the outside world which, of course, is a lesson for everybody to learn.
So what do they serve at the UN canteen for lunch?
Do you remember?
Not really.
I checked it out like two months ago.
I don't know why I'm thinking like filet mignon and lobster for breakfast or something.
It reminds me like a college or university canteen of sort.
It's not as fancy, but it's nice.
Um yeah, nice thoughts.
Thanks for sharing.
What about you, yushan?
I think that is why uh, these videos are popular and he, his account, can be that popular and uh, influencing a lot of people who are interested in or have the enthusiasm in these international issues, and also, I think that is also the magic of the internet.
We can see and to listen and to experience the world just by using or clicking your mouse, and we can totally see what they're offering in the UN canteen.
I think it's more than the magic of the Internet.
I think it's the magic of media.
And I think he's doing something really important because he's taking a topic that is intimidating the UN.
And when I say intimidating, I mean almost like when you read a tech article on the Internet, but you know nothing about tech.
It makes it inaccessible for the average reader.
Well, the UN's topics are maybe inaccessible for a lot of people.
So breaking it down and doing it in a way that is relatable for people of any age, but particularly for young people, is a really special thing and he's doing something really important there.
And I think he's smart because he's mixing the you know the maybe a little bit of dry content with the peek behind the curtains things.
A fun little, fun little nuggets of.
Oh, here's what they eat for lunch in the canteen.
It's just a.
It gives a little break perhaps in the material.
So it's just very well done.
And congratulations to him for doing so.
And once again, thank you to He Yang and Qin Qian for that really interesting conversation.
That was the first in our special series commemorating the UN's 80th anniversary.
