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UNIS-UN Conference

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UNIS-UN Conference
Formation1976
TypeStudent Conference
Legal statusActive
Advisors
Zakaria Baha, Michelle Fredj-Bertrand, Alcy Leyva
Parent organization
United Nations International School
Websitehttps://www.unis.org/unis-un
First Conference - 3–4 March 1977
Last Conference - 19–20 March 2024

The UNIS-UN Conference is organized and run by high school students from the United Nations International School (UNIS). It aims to foster an environment in which young adults can grow their worldview and expand their horizons, whilst learning about and discussing important, influential issues in our world today. By inviting a variety of different schools from around the world, with different outlooks and cultures, it creates an atmosphere in which students can learn and form opinions in a globalized setting and ultimately become better, well-rounded world citizens. An integral part of the UNIS-UN experience was the hosting of visiting students by UNIS families to help foster friendships and promote cross-cultural exchange.[1]

The conference is held annually in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters. The use of the General Assembly Hall by the UNIS-UN Conference is a strong representation of the tie between the United Nations International School and the United Nations. The conference is targeted towards the international high-school students that make up the majority of its audience. Attending schools must be invited and attendees must be affiliated with a school.[2]

Each year, a new topic of interest and importance is chosen for the conference. The UNIS-UN Conference is designed to provide students with expert knowledge imparted by provocative guest speakers. The conference also endeavors to give visiting students a platform to express their own opinions and views during the debate segment, introduced in 2006. The conference has gained much fame over the years, and is commonly the first thing associated with the United Nations International School. More than seven hundred students hailing from six continents attend the conference. Approximately 400 of the attending students are enrolled at UNIS. An additional 300 - 400 more students are invited from international schools around the world.

History

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UNIS-UN was founded in 1976 by several UNIS students in collaboration with a Tutorial House (UNIS equivalent of high school) humanities teacher. The conference was first held on March 3 and 4, 1977, in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters, and became a tradition every year since then.[3] In 2011, the Cultural Showcase was introduced, featuring international performances at UNIS by visiting schools the day before the conference.[4] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 conference was cancelled along with the tradition of hosting visiting schools. The organizing committee has grown over the years (to its current number of approximately seventy).

Organization

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The 2006 UNIS-UN Conference
UN General Assembly Hall
Secretary General Kofi Annan and President of the General Assembly Jan Eliasson at the 2006 UNIS-UN Conference
Morgan Spurlock delivering the keynote address at the 2005 UNIS-UN Conference

The UNIS-UN Organizing Committee is split up into several committees (Visiting Schools, Finance, Tech, Logistics, Editing, and Speakers) to ease the organization process. Visiting Schools is in charge of organizing the students visiting from abroad. Finance manages the budget and buys merchandise for the attendees to purchase. Technology organizes any technological components, like presentations for the speakers and liaising with UN staff. Logistics organizes the Day of Cultural Exchange, which includes workshops, the Cultural Showcase, and a welcome dinner the day before the conference. Editing edits the articles for the Working Paper, and Speakers finds people to speak at the conference and organizes the debates. Each committee is headed by one or two students (usually juniors and seniors). These committee heads make up the UNIS-UN Executive Committee (ExComm); however, there are a select few students who are not the heads of the commissions but are prominent members of the committees.[5]

Preparations for the conference are begun nearly a year in advance and include finding and researching a topic of global relevance, drawing up a list of speakers, inviting several hundred students from schools all over the world, and compiling a Working Paper of articles pertaining to the topic written and edited by members of the UNIS-UN Editing ExComm. The conference is broadcast live on UN Web TV.[6]

Past conferences

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Previous UNIS-UN speakers and panelists include:

Previous topics include:[7][8]

Previous UNIS-UN Conferences
Year Conference Topic ExComm Co-chairs Speakers and Panelists
2024 Equal Rights Equal Heights: Climbing the Ladder of Gender Equality Justa van Gaal and Aaliya Malholta Diene Keita
Navina Haidar Haykel
Mariam Vahradyan
Caryl Stern
Anna Karin Eneström (Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations)
Jörundur Valtýsson (Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations)
Vanessa Frazier (Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations)
Felipe Paullier (Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs at the United Nations)
2023 Turning the Page: A New Chapter in Education Sophie Chen and Antonio Athias Christopher de Bono
Roser Salavert
Ana Paula Zakarias
Juan Ramón de la Fuente
Robert Keith Rae
Sheikha Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani
Sheikh Manssour Bin Mussallam
Lauren Rumble
Soraya Fouladi
2022 Food for Thought: A Sustainable Approach to Food Security Eva Lifsec and Jack Hochman Seth Goldman
Abby Maxman
Mary-Ellen McGroarty
Susan Bratton
Rebekah Hodge
Esther Penunia
Mai Thin Yu Mon
Oscar Ekponimo
Eli Goldman
2021 A Global Catastrophe: The Impacts of COVID-19 Eva Lifsec and Jack Hochman Anthony Fauci
Michael S. Phillips
Christiane Amanpour
Sanjay Gupta
Burhan Gafoor
2020 Megacities: A Sustainable Future Sophia Duff and Tom Mckillop
2019 Ripple Effect: The Water Crisis Noëlla Kalasa and Sophia Duff Galila Gray
Andrew Hudson
Seth M. Siegel
Wolfram Schlenker
Zaria Forman
Fiona Ward
2018 Under CTRL: Technology, Innovation and the Future of Work Ayesha Wijesekera and Noëlla Kalasa Maha Aziz
Andrew Brust
Michael Scissons
Federico Rampini
Tsvi Gal
Clay Shirky
2017 Migration: Crossing the Line Sarah Blau and Sean Waxman-Lenz William Milberg
Angy Rivera
Sirin Selcuk
Gregory Maniatis
Ben Fox Rubin
Victor Flores
2016 Media’s Influence: Opinions, Activism, & Outcomes Suroosh Alvi
Buzz Bissinger
Susan Chira
Casey Neistat
Paloma Escudero
Trevor Johnson
2015 Sustainability: Balancing People, Planet, & Profit Amina J. Mohammed
Estela Vazquez
Georg Kell
Hans Rosling
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Joel K. Bourne
2014 Globalization: A World of Exchange
2013 Modern Youthquake: A Generation’s Impact[9] Ban Ki-moon
Corinne Woods
Sheena Matheiken
Claudia López
Brandon Stanton
Kiran Bir Sethi
Chris Temple
Zach Ingrasci
2012 Human Exploitation: Exposing the Unseen[10] Daniel F. Persico
Katherine Chon
Johanna M. Esposito
Radhika Coomaraswamy
Asha-Rose Migiro
Kenneth D. Johnson
Rachel Lloyd
Lynn Stratford
Helen Benedict
2011 The Web: Wiring our World[11] Nicholas Negroponte
Kamran Elahian
Judith Donath
Burt Herman
Clay Shirky
Jon Lawhead
Marc Rotenberg
Alexis Ohanian
2010 Bioethics: Striking a Balance[12] Christine Mitchell
Kenneth Prager
Ana Lita
David Magnus
Joseph Fins
Wesley Smith
2009 The Food Crisis: A Global Challenge[13] Ban Ki-moon
Daniel Gustafson
J.W. Smith
Caryl Stern
A.G. Kawamura
Henk-Jan Brinkman
2008 The Pursuit of Energy: A Catalyst To Conflict Carlos Alejaldre
Mark Crandall
Lucas McConnell
2007 Global Warming: Confronting the Crisis
2006 30 Years of UNIS-UN: The Role of the Corporation in Today's World
2005 Global Health: Rights and Responsibilities in the 21st Century
2004 Modern Mass Media: The Influence of Information
2003 Youth at Risk: The Future in Our Hands[14]
2002 Prejudice: How Racism and Bigotry Scar Our World
2001 Twenty-five years of the UNIS-UN: Problems and Progress over the Past Quarter Century[15]
2000 A Changing World: Examining Global Interdependence and Inequalities[16]
1999 Facing the New Millennium: a Search for Global Ethics
1998 Civil Conflicts: Global Consequences and Concerns
1997 Technology and Communications in the 21st Century: the Impact on Society
1996 Children of the World: Struggles of a Generation
1995 Women in Society: a Natural Balance, an Unequal World
1994 International Responsibility: Power and Politics
1993 Ethnic Struggles: Identity and Survival
1992 Environment and Development: a Common Ground
1991 A New World Order: the Opportunity for Change
1990 Education for Survival
1989 Human Rights
1988 The Environment: a Global Crisis - the Need for Change
1987 The Cost of War - The Price of Peace
1986 Men and Women: Tradition and Change
1985 Rights and Responsibilities of Youth
1984 The Communication Revolution: Freedom or Control
1983 Disarmament
1982 Population and Development
1981 Food and Development
1980 Energy, Development and the Environment
1979 Development Strategies and the Needs of Children in Celebration of the International Year of the Child
1978 The Law of the Sea
1977 New International Economic Order

References

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  1. ^ "UNIS-UN - Frequently Asked Questions". 2019-04-01. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  2. ^ "Student Responsibilities & FAQs - UNIS". www.unis.org. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  3. ^ "UNIS-UN 2011 - History". 2011-02-26. Archived from the original on 2011-02-26. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  4. ^ "UNIS-UN 2011". 2011-04-28. Archived from the original on 2011-04-28. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  5. ^ "Student Organizers - UNIS". www.unis.org. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  6. ^ "UNIS-UN International Student Conference (Day 1) | UN Web TV". webtv.un.org. 2024-03-19. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  7. ^ "Conferences". UNIS-UN. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  8. ^ "UNIS-UN - UNIS". www.unis.org. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  9. ^ "Secretary-General to Attend Thirty-seventh UNIS-UN Conference, under Theme 'Modern Youthquake: A Generation's Impact', at Headquarters, 7-8 March | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". press.un.org. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  10. ^ "UNIS-UN :: 2012 Conference". 2012-04-20. Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  11. ^ "Headquarters to Host Thirty-Fifth UNIS-UN Student Conference, 5-6 March, Under Theme 'The Web: Wiring our World' | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". press.un.org. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  12. ^ "Thirty-fourth Annual United Nations International School-United Nations Conference at Headquarters 4-5 March under Theme 'Bioethics: Striking a Balance' | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". press.un.org. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  13. ^ "HEADQUARTERS TO HOST THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL UNIS-UN CONFERENCE ON 5-6 MARCH UNDER THEME 'THE FOOD CRISIS: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE' | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". press.un.org. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  14. ^ "Unis-Un Conference". 2003-02-02. Archived from the original on 2003-02-02. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  15. ^ "UNIS-UN Newsletter". December 1, 2000. Archived from the original on 2001-04-05. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  16. ^ "Topics of the past 24 Unis-Un Conferences". 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-06-02. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
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