More than 140 students from 13 high schools in Vienna, Lower Austria and Istanbul participated in the Vienna Schools’ Model United Nations (VSMUN) which took place from 11 to 13 February 2013 at the Vienna International Centre (VIC). The VSMUN was organized by Daniel Resch from Gecko events agency and Sonja Graf, the initiator of the school project, with the support of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna which hosted the event for the fourth time.

After opening remarks by UNIS Public Information Officer Irene Hoeglinger-Neiva and Hannelore Pawlitschek from the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in Vienna, the students were invited to begin the simulation of a UN General Assembly session. 

During the three days young people had a first-hand possibility to practice their diplomatic skills while negotiating a range of topical issues. With this in mind the participants took on the role of delegates from different countries and formed ten committees. So the students had a chance to be in the shoes of high-ranking officials.
  
The topics that were the conference’s focus occupy a central place on the current UN agenda: sustainable development, climate change, combating disease and demographical changes. After discussions in small groups the “delegates” drafted several resolutions which reflected their constructive intergovernmental compromises. In this way the participants have carried out a complex simulation of a General Assembly session. In the process the students could understand what it is like to be negotiating on behalf of a Member State that they represented.

The wide range of social, political and economic questions that are covered within the framework of the United Nations will hopefully serve as a solid basis for the students in their future endeavors to respond to today’s acute global challenges.
 

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Jakarta welcomed 41 students from Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta on 28 January to learn about how the United Nations works in Indonesia. Students were given an introduction to the function of the UN in Indonesia and its priorities for the year ahead by the UNIC Jakarta Director Michele Zaccheo.

"We exist to make a difference in people's lives," said Mr Zaccheo, noting that the UN brings nations and its people together to achieving common goals. Asked how Indonesia contributes to these common goals, he highlighted, among other things, the important role of Indonesian peacekeepers and the country’s pioneering role in combating climate change through such programmes as REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). “Indonesia can provide lessons for other countries" in these areas, he said.

Students engaged in discussion sessions where the main topics raised included the environment and sustainable development, two global “problems that need to be solved immediately before they get worse," according to Muhammadiyah University student Anjani Tri Fatharini.

"Sustainable development is important because we still see big gaps insocial welfare, even in developed countries that are economically stable," Ms. Anjani said.

UN Volunteers programme officer Wendy Shapiro was on hand to outline opportunities both at home and abroad to volunteer as a way to contribute to the UN’s goals. Students also joined the global conversation on the post-2015 Development Agenda by completing the My World survey in Bahasa Indonesia. “Your voices, the voices of young people in Indonesia, need to be heard,” said the UN national coordinator for the post-2015 consultations, Dylan Alban.

(by Christine Assirvaden and Afdinda Endi)

Caracol de Plata is the Iberoamerican public service award, which annually recognizes the public service print, video and audio announcements and campaigns in several categories. Back in 2008, UNIC Mexico City was the winner of a Caracol de Plata for its regional Stand Up against Poverty multimedia campaign. 

Over the past several years, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) Mexico City has developed a close colaboration with Caracol de Plata, and particularly with its university student category.  This year, the selected topic was sustainable development and entries were sought in four categories: Poster, Television, Digital Media and Alternative media.  

UNICs in Latin America also promoted the invitation to university students to take part in the competion, which resulted in the participation of over 1,300 students from 213 universities in 16 Iberoamerican countries, who presented a total of 1,094 messages on sustainable development, based on Rio+20. 

UNIC Mexico City participated in the jury and took part at the award ceremony where the winners from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico were honoured in front of a large crowd of civil society leaders and the then First Lady of Mexico. 

Following the award ceremony, UNIC invited the winners to a meeting in its offices for feedback and exchange of views on ways and means of promoting issues on the UN agenda through advertising and public service communications campaigns.

Key experts from the industry also took part in this meeting, as did UN communicators from the regional offices in Panama (via videoconference), providing useful insights on the possible avenues for greater cooperation on joint projects in the future.

On 24 October, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Tokyo, along with the United Nations University (UNU) and Environmental Partnership Council (EPC), cerebrated the annual United Nations Day by jointly hosting a public forum titled, “Post ‘Rio+20’: Achieving The Future We Want.” Experts representing major stake holders such as the Japanese government, businesses, non-profits and youth organizations, gathered to discuss a wide range of issues the international community must face in the post-2015 era.

In the first half of the forum, János Pásztor, the out-going Executive Secretary of The United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP), gave a keynote speech. He touched upon various UN efforts towards sustainable development, as well as the necessary steps for the establishment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new process which the member states at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, agreed to launch in June 2012.“We desperately need an emergence of a global citizenship which will look at global issues and address them,” he said, and underlined the important role the UN must play in order to make this a reality. He concluded by stating that “the UN really must change if we want to be relevant and efficient in the 21stcentury.”

Mr. Pasztor’s speech was followed by a panel discussion in which four experts, each representing a different sector, shared their experiences of Rio+20 and their views on what we can do to achieve sustainable development. Reviewing the broader implications of the outcome of Rio+20, including the need to harmonize SDGs and the post-MDG process, Hiroshi Minami, Government negotiator, also emphasized the importance of holding timely dialogue with the civil society before entering intergovernmental negotiations. Considering that the challenge of balancing development and environment has not been met in the past 20 years, Koyu Furusawa, leading representative of the civil society (Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society) pushed for a new international framework which combines the government, companies and citizen/community. From the perspective of the youth, Hiroki Fukushima(Japan Youth Ecology League)introduced the activities of the “Youth Blast” at Rio+20 and described how youth groups managed to have their perspective reflected in the final outcome document.  From the business point of view, Tsukasa Kanai(General Manager for CSR, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank) considered their participation a success with the adoption of over 200 initiatives and explained the significance of signing the “Natural Capital Declaration,” a commitment by the finance industry to work towards integrating natural capital considerations into financial products and services.

In closing, Shoya Hirose (Climate Youth Japan), representing the youth, called for an international mechanism which would reflect voices of the youth in future negotiations and called on everyone to do their part to engage and act for a better future, regardless of age and nationality.