Note to Correspondents

HEADQUARTERS TO HOST SIXTH ANNUAL YOUTH ASSEMBLY AS GLOBAL MODEL

 

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE CONVENES IN GENEVA, 5-7 AUGUST

 

The Department of Public Information has embarked on two new youth-related projects which will culminate in separate but simultaneous events, with the Global Model United Nations Conference convening from 5-7 August in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Youth Assembly at the United Nations taking place at New York Headquarters.

While the Global Model United Nations is an entirely new endeavour, the Youth Assembly has been held at New York Headquarters for the past five years with the sponsorship of various permanent missions to the United Nations.  This is the first time that the Department of Public Information is actively supporting the Conference.  The partnership falls in line with the Department’s continuing outreach efforts to enhance and diversify its range of educational programmes, products and services aimed at a youth audience, which the United Nations defines as ages 15-24.  The Youth Assembly is particularly important in engaging young people in the area of the Millennium Development Goals, a priority issue for the Organization and an area of considerable interest and relevance to young people.

Participants will focus on youth-led development towards the success of the Millennium Development Goals, taking part in discussions and workshops with specialists in the eight Millennium Goals.  They will take away from the experience a greater understanding of the work of the United Nations in that important area and gain practical knowledge of how to make a difference in their own communities.

Approximately 600 youth leaders from countries around the world participated in the 2008 Youth Assembly, and it is anticipated that hundreds of young people will attend the 2009 event, with a particularly large contingent from China.

The Youth Assembly is organized by the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation and the International Institute for Culture and Peace (both non-governmental organizations associated with the Department of Public Information).  Its primary sponsor this year is the Permanent Mission of Hungary.

For more information, please contact the Group Programmes Unit in the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information, at tel.:  212 963 1361 or 212 963 6019, or visit the Friendship Ambassadors website at:  http://www.faf.org/unyouthassembly/ya_home.htm.  Applications can be sent directly to e-mail:  yaapplications@faf.org.

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For information media • not an official record