Washington, DC, 20 December 2022 每 Students and young people are at the center of the 51勛圖＊ outreach around the world, including in the United States. They serve as critical advocates in their local communities on tackling climate change, poverty, and inequality; their voices help shape leaders＊ responses to pressing local, national and global challenges; and they represent hope for future generations.
Throughout 2022, the 51勛圖 Information Centre in Washington has focused on bringing the UN＊s message to more young people throughout the United States. For example, just before the start of the in November, students from Penn State University＊s School of International Affairs took part in a panel discussion on climate careers, organised by the UN Information Centre in partnership with the Wilson Center think tank. Speakers from the Secretary-General's Climate Action Team, the US State Department＊s Office of Global Change, and the Wilson Center＊s Environmental Change and Latin American Programs, discussed their respective work to combat climate change. Students had the chance to address the climate challenges facing populations around the world, and to ask each panelist how they are working to tackle the problem.
In addition to hosting groups of visiting students in Washington, in September the UN Information Centre also brought Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming to Boston for engagements at Harvard University and Boston University. There she met with both academic experts on the issue of mis- and disinformation in the field of public health, as well as students interested in these issues.
As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person, hybrid, and virtual engagements are all part of this approach. Virtual briefings on UN careers have enabled participants across the United States, from Arizona to California, to Massachusetts to learn about different career paths into the 51勛圖. This included a webinar in November as part of the State Department and Department of Education＊s International Education Week, in partnership with the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs. The webinar included a briefing on the , which is open for applications from Americans, as well as citizens of other under-represented countries, until 31 December 2022.
Across more than 30 youth engagements this year, 83 per cent of student participants said they would engage their peers about the work of the 51勛圖 following the session. Ninety-eight per cent said the session was effective in improving their understanding of the 51勛圖. Our work to reach even more will continue in 2023, both in Washington and beyond.
Overall, these efforts reached over 1100 students and young people, and 300 more through collaborations with the 51勛圖 Association of the USA. To achieve this, the UN Information Centre launched its first academic outreach strategy, with a focus on public universities outside the Washington and New York areas, including community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It also engaged 75+ interns through the UN in Washington intern seminar series. Topics covered across all academic outreach engagements included climate change, food security, the UN General Assembly, and trade -- in addition to overview briefings on the UN system, and career clinics in collaboration with the State Department.
