Youth Perspectives Conference 2013
I've been asked to give an account of my whereabouts
on the 29th of November to the 2nd of December.
On my own resolve (and with the
consent of my parents who sponsored my trip of course), I applied for, hopped
on a plane and fled to Geneva, Switzerland; where I attended the Youth Perspectives Conference 2013’ themed
"The Role Of Youth In Promoting The Culture Of Peace".
This annual conference was organised
by the Geneva International Model United Nations. The
conference aims to "bring young people to discuss their points of view, to
precise their opinions and to develop, in a coherent way, drafts of solutions
to current issues"[1].
That is exactly what we did. This
4th edition of the conference gave approximately 60 participants from all over
the globe - the opportunity to "engage in the topic of contemporary human
rights and international relations, exchange their points of view, negotiate
contrasting perspectives, elaborate a common position and then develop
sustainable solutions"[2].
There were four committees; three of
which were in English and one in French. They dealt with:
a)
Cultural exchange as the foundation of a culture of
peace (EN)
b)
How can social media be utilized by youth in promoting
a culture of peace? (EN)
c)
Le rôle des jeunes dans la lutte contre l’inégalité
des revenus et la distribution des richesses (FR) [Which when translated means The role of youth in the fight against
income inequality and wealth distribution]
d)
Human rights promotion for a culture of peace (EN)
Each committee was aided by two
debate’s facilitators, in accordance with the GIMUN rules of procedure. The
committees worked in anticipation of adopting a final resolution at the end of
the third day which was ratified by the Youth
Perspectives General Assembly which is composed of all the participants who
took part in the conference.
Due to my
late arrival, I was the ‘awkward trespasser’ in the committee
who was lost in terms of our stance during the deliberations so I was a little
behind. But from what I had heard and by looking at our agenda (which was
appropriately adopted during the first session which I missed); my committee
had looked at ‘Limitations Of Human Rights Promotion’, ‘Cultural relativism vs. Universalism’, and
were then beginning to look at ‘Education
As A Prerequisite For Promotion Of Human Rights’.
A certain degree of stress was
being placed on “how respect of human rights is at the
basis of a culture of peace that promotes equality; combats discrimination and
encourages dialogues and mutual understanding”[4].
During
the enlightening discourse, we considered ‘Means
of Creating Awareness and Commitment to Human Rights’, and ‘What Could be Done by Youths’; all of
which was done with the hope of “developing a Global Network Among Youth
which would work to foster human rights by drawing attention to the modern
human rights challenges, and focusing on universal human rights values in order
to address the concept of a culture of peace and to promote it”[5].
After the very intense sessions, well deserved coffee
breaks were given where we could go air our brains so we could return refreshed
to tackle the problems of the world… But Committee 4 did not need these breaks.
We always found ways to amuse ourselves especially on our final day when we
needed to round everything up and prepare our Resolution. Great laughs that
ended in tears were shared (most especially on my part).
When our Resolution was finalised,
we went on one of our various social activities. When we returned, the General
Assembly gathered and the Resolutions from all four Committees were presented
by Bilingual Representatives.
Although I
cannot report accurately on the activities and Resolutions of the other
Committees, I can make an attempt to summarise what the three other Committees
came up with.
Committee
1: They came up with a Cultural Exchange mechanism
called the “Cultural Library”.
Committee 2: This
committee in conjunction with one of the developers of GOODWALL.ORG, already puts their
Resolution into play. They started the #ShareYourPeace Trend.
Committee 3: This was the hard one to
understand most especially since it was the French Speaking committee. From
what I recall, their Resolution proposed to develop a database that would
assist in their ‘fight against
income inequality and wealth distribution’ which would be called YAN.
All Resolutions were received by the
General Assembly and voted upon. All were accepted and would go on to be
presented by GIMUN before ‘Future of Human Rights Forum’ on the 10th
of December.
My understanding is that after the
presentation of our Resolutions to the Forum earlier this month, GIMUN due to their
Special Consultative Status, would submit those Resolutions to the United
Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). A document containing said
Resolutions will then be circulated within UN and NGO networks; which ensures
that the work we did that weekend will have potential significance beyond the conference.
If you are in anyway interested in
such conferences or opportunities, do not hesitate to contact me, any member of
the FLAC Committee or even Karen Sutton – the Careers Guidance Expert (at GCD)
or someone in a similar role in your respective Colleges.
Beulah
Allotey
GCD FLAC
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