Bingo time!

Not long ago CRIN created some special bingo cards for our trips to the UN to lighten the mood and enhance everyone’s listening skills. The diplomats and experts seemed to enjoy them, and we think you will too.

First off, we have As-seen-at-the-UN Bingo.

Some sights at the UN Human Rights Council aren’t impossible to spot: a pride of peacocks (no joke), a catwalk of designer suits modeled by a host of sleeping diplomats, or people scrambling for free food at side events.

But once you’ve nabbed the last sandwich - and dodged netting yourself a “Diplomatic feud” in the process - keep an eye and ear out for some of the other daily features at the UN as listed below.

Next up is the Jargon Bingo, and yes, these are all real.

We’ve previously explained why terms like cross-fertilisation or outcome harvesting should be left in the farmyard, or why scaffolding or heavy liftingshould be left in the construction manual, but every year new buzzwords spill out of the UN, polluting the minds of clear communicators and jargon-allergic listeners alike.

We don’t know how you would go about doing non-evidence-based research, or what backwards planning would look like, but we welcome suggestions on how to effectively integrate expert knowledge on this in order to create a complementary best practice framework.

Finally, our favourite: Human Rights Bingo.

We distributed these bingo cards before and during a discussion on children’s rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While these goals sound good in theory, the language of rights is almost totally absent in their targets.

If you thought the peacocks were hard to spot, wait until you try to listen out for words like redress, justice or transparency (all apparently naughty words) at the Human Rights Council.

To continue marveling at the impenetrable expressions of NGO and UN speak, check out CRIN’s jargon dictionary.