UN Secretary-General Calls on Youth to Mobilize World Leaders

The voices of 1.2 billion people are more than a mere whisper. This is the number of adolescents in the world, aged 10 to 19. United, making up more than a seventh of the world’s population, their voices can be a powerful call to action.

This may have been what United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had in mind when he called on high school students participating in Model UN to “make some noise” about the upcoming Rio+20 conference in Brazil.

Rio+20, formally known as the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, is getting underway next month, marking twenty years since the first conference in 1992. The world’s adolescents are in many ways indicators of the world’s progress toward sustainability commitments, having been born and come of age in this period.

Model UN (MUN) is a simulation of the actual UN procedures, bringing students from high school to university age together to discuss such global issues as peace and security, nuclear energy and weapons, poverty, human rights and climate change.

About 2,500 students from high schools in 23 countries took part in the UN Association of the USA’s (UNA-USA) Global Classrooms International MUN in New York City. The conference, now in its 13th year, is one of the largest MUNs in the world.

“The truth is I am disappointed with the negotiations. They are not moving fast enough. That is why I need you … When I say make some noise, I mean raise your voices. Demand real action. Shame those governments into doing more,” Mr. Ban urged.

Negotiations for the upcoming conference taking place on June 20-22 have been extended due to division between the delegates. The conference’s outcome document will pave the way forward on sustainability issues.

Mr. Ban’s speech also emphasized that the conference has the potential to make a very real positive impact on the lives of families struggling to find enough food, or on the protection of the planet’s oceans.

“Students today care about the world beyond the borders of their neighborhoods, cities, and countries. They are highly engaged with international issues, and have ideas for making the world a better place,” said UNA-USA Executive Director Patrick Madden in a press release.

An educated youth can certainly make a difference. Whether they do so by letting their government representatives know what the future they want looks like, by taking to social networks to spread the word about sustainability, or by organizing events in their schools or communities, youth can be influential agents of change.