GLOBAL YOUNG LEADERS CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, WITH FOUR SESSIONS DURING JUNE, JULY, AUGUST

Press Release

GLOBAL YOUNG LEADERS CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, WITH FOUR SESSIONS DURING JUNE, JULY, AUGUST

Gillian M. Sorensen, Assistant Secretary-General For External Relations, Will Address First Group on 27 June

Gillian M. Sorensen, Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations, will address the Global Young Leaders Conference at United Nations Headquarters on 27 June 2000, from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall.

The Conference, sponsored by the Department of Public Information, is part of a unique leadership development programme that brings together outstanding young people from around the world to build critical leadership skills in the global context. The theme for this year’s Conference is: The Leaders of Tomorrow Preparing for the Global Challenges and Responsibilities of the Future.

The Conference will be bringing a total of four groups of students to the Headquarters during June, July and August, as follows: 27 June; 11 to 12 July; 25 to 26 July; and 8 to 9 August. Each group will consist of 350 high school juniors and seniors, from 83 countries all over the world, selected on the basis of their scholastic merit, community involvement, and leadership experience.

Each session will open with an address/overview of what the United Nations does, its role and relevance. This will be followed (except for the 27 June session which will be followed by a tour of the United Nations) by a one-hour panel discussion which will feature representatives from United Nations agencies/programmes, such as: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The following morning, they will hold their "global summit", a kind of Model United Nations, during which they will role-play diplomats representing various countries on international commissions. These simulated commissions consider current issues such as child labour, foreign aid, poverty, global warming, AIDS, refugees and terrorism, among others.

- 2 - Note No. 5617 22 June 2000

The Global Young Leaders Conference is sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization founded in 1985 and located in Washington, D.C. The Council is dedicated to fostering and inspiring young people to achieve their full leadership potential. Over 425 members of the United States Congress serve on the Conference’s Honorary Congressional Board of Advisers.

The Conference is scheduled to be addressed by Joseph Verner Reed on 11 July, followed by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke on 25 July, and Kevin Kennedy, Principal Officer, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, on 8 August.

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