'A CHANGING WORLD: EXAMINING GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE AND INEQUALITIES' THEME OF ANNUAL UNIS-UN CONFERENCE AT HEADQUARTERS, 2-3 MARCH

Press Release

'A CHANGING WORLD: EXAMINING GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE AND INEQUALITIES' THEME OF ANNUAL UNIS-UN CONFERENCE AT HEADQUARTERS, 2-3 MARCH

The twenty-fifth annual United Nations International School (UNIS) United Nations Conference will be held on 2 to 3 March in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters, with the theme: "A Changing World: Examining Global Interdependence and Inequalities".

Nearly 700 students from some 50 countries and 40 schools will attend this year's conference, gathering to hear the perspectives of experts on the topic and then debate it amongst themselves. This year's topic examines global patterns at a time of accelerating change, as well as assessing the economic, political and cultural implications of the growing degree of interdependence and rising inequalities. The topic of globalization is a timely one, coming on the heels of the controversial World Trade Organization Conference in Seattle, Washington and the Davos Forum in Switzerland.

The annual Conference is organized and run by the students of the International School, which was founded in 1947 by a group of United Nations parents to provide an education for their children that fostered global sensibility. What began modestly as a nursery school for 20 children is now a college-preparatory school with two campuses enrolling 1,509 children from 111 countries. In preparation for the Conference, students work together for a year in order to solve the many problems and issues that have to be dealt with, from choosing the topic to organizing the Conference schedule. They contact the speakers, write a working paper, organize topic debates for the high school students at UNIS, raise funds, handle public relations and communication within the UNIS community, and invite local, national and international schools to attend the conference. And, for the first time this year, the Conference will be broadcast live over the Internet.

The speakers at this year's Conference will be: Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the fifty-fourth General Assembly; Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Wouter Wilton, European Commission Representative in the tri-State area; Louise Fréchette, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations, with respect to the "oil-for-food” programme"; Linda Tarr-Whelan, President and Chief

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Executive Officer of the Centre for Policy Alternatives; Jan Van Demoortle, Head of Policy for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Barry Castleman, Independent Consultant for environmental/consumer protection; Ms. Barbara Shailor, Director of International Affairs Department, AFL-CIO; Amy Goodman, Radio Host of WBAI; Teveia Barnes, Executive Director of Lawyers for One America; and Seamus O'Clericain, Professor of Economics at Columbia University.

The two days of speeches and discussion will examine the ongoing process of globalization and analyse how the developing countries will handle the increasing economic and political dominance of larger, richer countries. Speakers will focus on how the great disparities, economic and otherwise, that exist between developed and developing nations can be reduced, in order to spread the benefits of an interdependent world.

With its global participation and high quality of speakers, the annual Conference is higher education’s premier event in the field of internationalism.

Further information can be found on the UNIS-UN Web site: www.unis-un.org, by e-mail: unis-un@unis.org, by phone: 212-584-3108 or by fax: 212-584-3123.

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