At least 200 tertiary students across the world have converged in Accra to participate in a three-day Model United Nations (M-UN) Conference.
The participants, who are undergraduate and postgraduate students would deliberate on pressing global issues that confront the world economy, and fundamental human rights and freedom.
The theme for the conference is: ‘Achieving the sustainable development goals, a collective responsibility’, is a platform that provides a stimulation of the actual UN system and its rules and procedure in a context that student can appreciate.
The participants are from Jamaica, Latvia, Monaco, Mauritania, Canada, Chad, Bahamas, Colombia, Australia and France, among other countries.
Speaking at the opening ceremony yesterday, founder of Model-UN, Mr Ernest Gyimah-Danquah, said participants would be ushered into sessions to discuss possible and feasible solutions in chosen topics.
“It is in these times that we need the world to believe in our collective ability to provide solutions to global problems as today’s youth are the future leaders.
“We have chalked success in terms of meeting global goals; global extreme poverty has declined, the Paris Accord has been signed and there continue to be fascinating stories of entrepreneurs,” he said.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Ghana, Madam Anne-Claire Dufay, urged participants to discuss details on how countries could attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She said the Model-UN programme provided the platform for the youth to come out with pragmatic measures to address challenging issues confronting their various countries.
Madam Dufay urged reintegrated UNICEF support to the programme and advised participants’ to come out with a memoranda at the end of the session.
The Chief Executive Officer of National Youth Authority, Mr Emmanuel Asigri, thanked organisers of the programme, and expressed government’s commitment to subsequent programmes.
He said the Model-UN had over the years trained and unearthed young talents who had contributed significantly to national development.
Mr Asigri urged the participants to be viable tools for social change and learn more during the session.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
