One year ago today, I took a deep breath and announced my campaign to become United Nations Secretary-General: the system is broken, and no world leader or diplomat was stepping up to fix it. The UN, meant to prevent catastrophe, has instead become a bystander to it. Climate collapse, AI risks, wars, dictatorships, pandemics, and poverty are spiralling out of control, yet world leaders do nothing.

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Governments are more focused on their power than on solving global crises. The UN is stuck in paralysis, held hostage by five countries with veto power. This isn’t just frustrating, it’s enraging. And that’s exactly why I launched this campaign: to challenge a rigged, outdated system and force it to change.

I was clear with myself that besides clearly not fitting in the mould that world leaders expected for the next UN leader, the makeup of this organisation means that at the end of the day, five countries (the US, the UK, France, China & Russia) make key decisions and have a veto right. That alone means that someone pushing for radical change, not the status quo, is unlikely to please them. I was also convinced that this was exactly why a campaign challenging an unfair, opaque and broken system was needed. 

Have you ever seen the satiric video “The Galactic Federation interviews Earth for membership”? Watch it: Vinny Thomas lays out clearly how we are fighting over resources when we have enough for all, because of the “system”. How insane does this sound?  

How can we live with ourselves without trying our best to counter injustices?! I know it’s easier said than done. And to be honest, over the last year, I often wondered what I was doing with this campaign: as the world is burning down, is it worth investing energy in this, is this change even possible? 

I’m not going to pretend I know what is the best way to impact change. I don’t think there is one, and I have no certainty on how to stop the madness we see unfolding all around us. But I know that if the answer to: “Why are people dying of hunger when we have enough food?”, “Why is no one stopping Israel’s genocide?” “Why are people dying of HIV when we have medicine to save lives?” is “the system”, then we ought to fix the system, or break it and build a new one.

What 1 year of challenging the United Nations system looked like:

As a quick recap, I’m running to become the United Nations Secretary-General for climate change, artificial intelligence, wars, dictatorships, pandemics, and poverty to finally be tackled. The selection process will take place in a bit more than a year. You can find more details here.

Through this campaign, by mobilizing people across the world, raising awareness, getting support and shaking up the system, I aim to:

• Get our political programme implemented to quell survival threats,

• Start a reform of the United Nations for it to have the competencies, legitimacy and leadership to act and preserve peace and security,

• Bring the people’s voice to this institution by giving you a vote!

Now, what have I done since announcing this? Alone, nothing. With Atlas volunteers, and my campaign team, a lot!

1. We crowdsourced, wrote, and approved the first people-backed political programme for the UN

During Atlas’ Annual Summit, we approved our political programme for the United Nations, the Survival Bill!

Read the Survival Bill

This programme is our roadmap to ensure that climate change, artificial intelligence, wars, dictatorship, pandemics, and poverty are quelled to enable humanity to thrive! The policies we voted on are radical, bold, and forward-looking. The world needs political leadership, radical action, and a clear moral compass. We must prioritize the interests of people and the planet over those of individual countries. And I will do my utmost best to ensure I deliver on this. I’m not saying it will be easy. It won’t. However, I hope this can shake up the UN enough for us to take a better course because, together united, we cannot be defeated. 

2. We’re working to make the UN stop grave crimes. Systematically!

That’s why, along with my incredible campaign team Atlas, I’m pushing for the General Assembly (the closest thing to a UN parliament, but with far less power) to pass what we call the Freedom Emergency Declaration: a Resolution for the UN to act systematically when states commit grave crimes, not just when convenient. Imagine if countries ensured the UN did its job and blocked hypocrisy from dominating the global agenda. Imagine the suffering we could stop. Stop imagining: let’s make it happen!

Send an email by clicking here to the UN General Assembly president & say it loudly: pass a Freedom Emergency Declaration! Because make no mistake, they want you to think that you have no say, that the UN is a distant bureaucracy that has nothing to do with your life. But it’s not. It shapes your world every single day.

3. I met with UN officials and ambassadors to try to create momentum from the inside

This was often the most disappointing part (with a few exceptions). I have been repeatedly asked to stop this campaign as it is “too destructive” and “the UN doesn’t need more criticism”. Granted, the UN is going through an enormous crisis of legitimacy. Some of the things thrown its way are unfounded, but many are grounded in people’s discontent with it. I believe that unless it is radically transformed, the UN will die. And then… well then it’s hell. 

However, when those inside the system refuse to even acknowledge that there are reasons to want reform and change, it is exhausting. Often acting as gatekeepers, they will spend hours of your time justifying a system made of first and second-class countries, and trying to play down some of the worst crises the world is going through: “Why just focus on those hot topics? There are plenty of other things the UN tackles we can speak about,” told me a high UN official when I mentioned the UN’s failure to stop Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

However, there were also those rare instances where those seated across from me were moved to tears when discussing the life-and-death situations the UN could help alleviate if it did its job properly.

You can find more details about the specifics at the end of this update, but all in all, we laid out the first people-backed programme for the UN and are trying as hard as we can to get the UN to change fast so that the worse crimes humanity is witnessing can be stopped. Now. 

The Challenges We Faced:

• Funding: No major foundations or donors have backed this campaign. That makes everything harder.

• Messaging: I’m running for a role without an election. But doing so lets me challenge a corrupt process, push radical policies, and force change. Explaining this in a way that resonates is a constant struggle.

If you have ideas or connections that could help, please reach out.

What now? We want more people to represent this campaign & challenge the UN!

You heard well. For this campaign to work, we want to recruit Representatives who can publicly represent the campaign, either in their country or on key issues, helping to amplify our political programme, challenge the current system, and engage more people in our fight for a UN that actually works for survival.

This won't be just another “endorsement” network. The Representatives will be active voices, equipped with the tools and support needed to push our agenda forward. They’ll engage with the public, speak at events, write, mobilize, and make sure this campaign is about all of us.

This network of Representatives will help:

• Strengthen the campaign’s presence in different countries and communities.

• Ensure that the campaign’s messages are delivered by people who embody its values and struggles.

• Increase pressure on political leaders, media, and institutions through widespread advocacy.

• Create a decentralized movement that fosters bottom-up political engagement.

• Provide a direct counterweight to elite-driven, status quo narratives within the UN selection process.

Are you interested in being one of them? We are about to launch the call for applications, but feel free to message me before! 

Besides this, we will continue to push for the UN General Assembly to adopt our Freedom Emergency Declaration, to try to get UN representatives & ambassadors to work with us, and to mobilise people! But we won’t stop there, we are also getting started to use UN tools against itself. More on this soon 🤫! 

So, what will you do to build a world you have a say in? Here are some ideas! 

I’m not going to lie: this is a tough battle. And I need your support. I’m lucky enough to work with incredible people changing the United Nations from the ground up, and you could be part of this revolution.

✊ Endorse my campaign here to show the UN there is strength in numbers, and send an email here to the president of the UN General Assembly to demand they act to stop Israel’s crimes, and Russia’s invasion! 

🎤 Become a representative of the campaign: email me to do so! 

💡 Meet the team. Denise & Cristian aren’t just making all of this possible, they’re constantly coming up with the boldest, most creative, and, let’s be honest, completely wild (in the best way) ideas to challenge the system. From using UN mechanisms against itself to trolling the likes of Musk & Trump, they stop at nothing to change the world.

👉 Let me know if you’d like to volunteer! From lobbying ambassadors to dreaming up the craziest campaigns possible, we need every bit of energy and ambition.

📢 Spread the word. I need you to help me get this campaign out there. Forward this email to 10 people, get them to sign on. Talk about it. Get others involved.

💰 And if you know funders who believe in this fight, let me know. We need money, fast, to make this happen

Are you still curious? Well, here are additional details on what happened during year 1.

As promised, here are a few more things that happened in the first year of the campaign:

• I held consultations with everyday citizens:

  • In Nairobi in May, we held consultations to crowdsource ideas about how the United Nations could best serve the people of Kenya. Over 100 people attended despite the floods the full in-person event, which lasted for five hours. Citizens told us about how they lost faith in the UN’s ability to deliver on its mandate, promises, and pretences to include and hear them. Anyone reading the news or contemplating the world around them sees clearly the violence, destruction, and injustice. They know that the UN does not consider them equal based on their nationalities. But there is hope. This could change if the United Nations were willing to take a hard look at itself and evolve, be reborn from its ashes, starting by including those left behind. 1. The veto power must be abolished; 2. people’s voices must be heard, and their priorities must be reflected in the work of the organization; 3. the United Nations should put its money where its mouth is. You can read more about this event here.

  • In NYC in September, Atlas grassroots consultations to hear from the people of New York and the world what they want the United Nations to do when it comes to regulating artificial intelligence. You can read the report and recommendations here. 

• I organised townhalls with experts to hear their suggestions on how to fix a broken system. I was joined online 

  • by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili to talk about how to make the UN accountable. In short, it must reflect today’s realities, not those of 1945, and have accountability to the people. You can watch the townhall here. 

  • By Dr. Habiba Sarabi to understand how the UN can stand with Afghan women & girls. There are five concrete actions it must take, including codifying gender apartheid. You can read the recap here. 

  • By UN Special Rapporteur Gina Romero to learn how the UN should protect freedoms. You can watch it here. 

• I tried to engage with diverse audiences and stakeholders to create a UN we deserve: 

  • I gave a lecture at Boston University on how to rebuild the UN for it to be able to confront the climate crisis. You can watch it & read it here. 

  • At a pro-Ukrainian protest, I called for all democracies worldwide to unite to stand against dictators’ crackdowns. You watch it & read it here

• At Atlas, we partnered with HEC Public Law Clinic to develop a proposal on how to reform the UN Secretary-General Selection Process. You can find the outcome here. 

• I attended UN conferences where I heard a lot of words, but they didn’t translate into anything meaningful. I’m talking about:

  • the UN Civil Society conference in Nairobi was supposed to bring in the voice of the people to help build a UN Fit for Purpose… It didn’t go according to plan: read more here. 

  • This was then supposed to cumulate in the September Summit for the Future. Guess what? The UN is clearly unfit for today, let alone the future. Read more here.

  • After those two depressing experiences, and after much back and forth as it was held in a dictatorship where voices were silenced, I attended the yearly climate conference called COP 29, in Baku. What happened? Nothing. 

Let’s change the world together, this is just the beginning!

Onward!

Colombe Cahen-Salvador (she/her)

Co-Founder & Candidate for United Nations Secretary-General

Atlas

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