26 October 2010
The United Nations Week from 18-21 October was a historic week for the United Nations Country Team as it saw UN agencies unite to educate Zimbabweans on the work of the organization.
Senior United Nations staff and the Zimbabwe Representative of the Food and Agricultural Organization went to 38 primary and secondary schools in 7 of the country’s 10 provinces and spoke about the organization. The UN agencies represented were FAO, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNESCO, UN Information Centre (UNIC) Harare, IOM, UNDP, WFP and ILO. About 19,000 students were reached during the campaign.
The UN4U presentations were made in English and the local Shona and Ndebele languages.
There was an overwhelming response from the students who bombarded presenters with questions on issues including the Security Council and its representation, the invasion of Iraq, human rights and access to education by all and for all. These sessions were extremely lively.
The last time UN agencies came together to raise awareness about the organization was in 2008 during the commemoration of UN Day.