A NEW UNITED NATIONS:

The Human Survival Project works to build public support for a UN Charter Convention. Think of this as a global constitutional convention where all nations would come together to completely rewrite the rules governing the United Nations. The UN Charter is essentially the constitution that determines how the UN works—and the current Charter, written in 1945, is completely inadequate for today's existential threats.

Previous attempts to reform the UN have fallen short because they’ve tried to make small changes to a fundamentally broken system.  It's like trying to fix a horse-drawn carriage by adding better wheels, when what you really need is a car.  Let’s build the car.

What Is a Charter Convention?

A Charter Convention would be a massive, organized gathering where representatives from every country on Earth negotiate a new UN Charter from the ground up. A Charter Convention would create an entirely new framework through inclusive negotiations.

This isn't a new or radical idea. Constitutional conventions and assemblies are a well-established, normal way that countries create or completely revise their governing systems. In fact, there's been a growing trend toward more inclusive constitutional processes in recent decades.

Countries Have Done This Before

Iceland (2010-2013) shows how innovative constitutional reform can work in the modern era. After their 2008 financial crisis, Iceland organized the most inclusive constitutional process in history. They held a National Assembly of 1,500 people—1,200 chosen randomly from the population and 300 representing organizations—to discuss core values. Then 950 randomly selected citizens developed detailed recommendations. Finally, 25 ordinary citizens (not professional politicians) were elected to draft a new constitution, using crowdsourcing and social media for public input. The result won 67% support in a referendum.

South Africa (1994-1996) created their post-apartheid constitution through what they called "the largest public participation programme ever carried out in South Africa." Their Constitutional Assembly spent nearly two years gathering input from ordinary citizens, civil society groups, and political parties across the country.

Ireland (2012-2014) held a Constitutional Convention mixing 66 randomly selected citizens with 33 politicians. Meeting on weekends over a year, they addressed several constitutional reforms, leading to successful referendums.

The United States (1787) created its current constitution through a Constitutional Convention when their original system wasn't working. India (1946-1950) spent nearly three years with 299 delegates from diverse backgrounds creating their constitution after independence. Australia has held four constitutional conventions. France used this approach during their revolution.

Since 2009, constitutional assemblies have convened in Iceland, Ireland, Tunisia, and Chile — showing this is happening more frequently, not less. Countries are recognizing that major constitutional change requires more than just politicians—it needs genuine public participation.

How a UN Charter Convention Would Work

The Convention would need several critical elements to succeed:

Global participation.

Every nation must have a meaningful voice. The effort will fail if it's seen as dominated by a few wealthy countries imposing their will on others.

Expert support.

The Convention would be supported by the world's leading experts in governance, economics, science, public health, and other crucial fields. We'd assemble a "dream team" of the brightest minds on Earth to help design the most effective global institutions possible.

Citizen involvement.

Regular people from around the world must be able to participate, contribute ideas, and understand what's happening. This isn't just about governments—it's about creating a system that serves all humans.

Deep transparency.

To build necessary trust, everything should be done out in the open, accessible online. That doesn't mean simply putting boring, complicated documents on a website. People around the world will need to really understand what's happening. That means using social media, traditional media, podcasts, online events, in-person events and more to teach people about the issues being discussed.

Adequate funding.

Whatever the cost of running a successful Convention, it will be small compared to the monetary and human costs of failing to avoid the next world war, pandemic or economic collapse.

The Path Forward

Getting to a Charter Convention will take some hard work. It will require:

Building public pressure.

Citizens around the world must demand this change from their governments. That's why The Human Survival Project focuses on public education and grassroots organizing.
 

Learning from recent examples.

The innovations from Iceland, Ireland, South Africa and other countries provide valuable lessons about inclusive processes, digital participation, and building public legitimacy.
 

Turning alarm into action.

Major institutional change often happens during crises. As climate change, technological risks, and other threats intensify, more leaders may become willing to consider fundamental reforms.

Why This Can Succeed

The process itself may be as important as the resulting Charter. When citizens and governments around the world participate in designing new global institutions, they will feel an ownership and commitment to making those institutions work. This creates the legitimacy and support that the current UN lacks.
 

This is humanity's chance to deliberately design its future rather than stumbling blindly toward catastrophe. With the right process and sufficient public support, we can build the global institutions our survival depends on.

HOW WILL WE FIX THE U.N.?