Over 250 high school students and teachers learned more about the city they live in by visiting five museums in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania.

This year, students from “Nichita Stanescu”, “Benjamin Franklin”, “Virgil Madgearu”, “George Calinescu” and “C.A. Rosetti” high schools visited the Western Ancient Art Museum “Ing. Dumitru Furnica – Minovici “, the Bucharest History Museum, the National Museum of Biology “Grigore Antipa”, the National Village Museum “Dimitrie Gusti” and the National Military Museum “Regele Ferdinand I” .
 
Divided into class groups, participating teens competed against each other to produce a 5-minute promotional video in which they had to give five reasons for visiting a museum of their choice. All 250 students were also required to register to an online contest where they had to answer two questions related to their visits to the five museums.
 
Some of the comments received from students mentioned that “they were exposed to very useful information”, appreciating “the excellent organization of the visits and the quality of information provided by museum guides”. They considered the visits to be “educative, interesting, covering more issues than the museum itself” and they “hoped that other colleagues would have similar opportunities in the future.”
 
“5 Lyceum / 5 Museum” is a joint competition organized by ECDL Romania, the Municipality of Bucharest, Bucharest School Inspectorate and UNIC Bucharest, and this year the project reached its fifth anniversary. Its main goal is to encourage teen participation in cultural activities and out-of-the-box learning experiences. 

More information on the competition and the full list of winners is available here.

On 27 March, teachers, students, American diplomats, Peace Corps Volunteers, and Fulbright grantees gathered at the American Cultural Center to honor the winners of the student essay contest “What Is the Meaning of Tolerance in the Modern World?”

The contest was launched on December 12, 2011 to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the proclamation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The organizers received 364 essay submissions from 32 high schools and national colleges throughout Bucharest. 

“Anne de Noailles” French High School is credited with the largest participation (52 students), followed by “Iulia Hasdeu” National College (33 students), and “Matei Basarab” National College (31 students). The essays were judged on both style and content by a jury composed of Americans affiliated with the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Romania.

In her opening remarks, Libby Gitenstein, U.S. Ambassador’s wife, congratulated all participants and encouraged them to get involved in future competitions. 

Cristina Balan, Officer-in-Charge, UNIC Bucharest, Dana Stanculescu, Director, Department for Culture, Education and Tourism of the Bucharest City Mayor ‘s Office, and Giovana Soare, Communication and Human Resources Director at Apa Nova, also addressed the audience and presented the participants with certificates of appreciation and gifts.

The UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Bucharest in partnership with Bucharest “Dante Alighieri” High school, marked on 27 January, the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. The documentary, “The Last Flight of Petr Ginz”, which tells the story of Petr Ginz, a Czechoslovak boy killed in Auschwitz, was screened for the students aged between 14 to 17 years.

In today’s world, where people pay more attention to their economic and financial issues than to human rights and social responsibility, the event was a chance to underline that human beings are entitled to respect no matter their racial, ethnic or religious affiliations and that the elimination of all kinds of discrimination and violence is crucial.

After the screening, the students, UNIC staff and interns debated over issues such as human rights, communism and the Holocaust in Romania, highlighting the need for explaining the Holocaust’s history, context and facts to the students. For most of the students coming to the screening, the film was an introduction to a subject they had not been aware off and was thus a chance for them to learn and understand that period in the world’s history, its impact on society and the need to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

The UN System in Romania organized a reception at the National Museum of Contemporary Art to commemorate UN Day. In addition to representatives of diplomatic missions in Romania, senior officials from national authorities, partner NGOs, academia, and journalists, members of Filaret Motco's family (the Romanian UN staffer who was killed in Mazar-i-Sharrif, Afghanistan on April 1) also attended the event.

Mr. Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Afghanistan, Mr. Mircea Geoana, President of the Romanian Senate, and Mr. Theodor Baconschi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed the audience and highlighted the special significance of the UN Day.

Lanterns were released into the evening sky in remembrance of all those who have lost their lives while serving the United Nations, committed to a world free from war, hunger and poverty.