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Transcript

How I edit statements differently for stories vs data, the real-time system my SG uses to track me, and a 5-step drafting framework.

Brief of April 21, 2026

What you’ll hear:

  • How I prepared two statements for one agenda item and classified them as primary and secondary in case I got called on twice.

  • The Google Doc system I use so my secretary general can track edits in real time and sign off before I speak.

  • Why the UNPFII assessment that dropped on Monday could be used as ammo in the UN80 context and how I am deciding whether to address it publicly or quietly.

  • The ICJ side event at the UNDP building: What stood out and the three-word closing I gave when the ambassador could not make it.

  • How I edited a solidarity statement with a Canadian Indigenous colleague down to three minutes without losing the substance.

  • Why the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development is meeting in the room next door and nobody is going.

  • The five-step framework I use to write statements that I am going to share as a resource.

Question of the day:

What is the one thing you wish you had said at the last meeting you attended but did not?

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