Six high school students from India along with their peers from around the world will don fictional roles and responsibilities of United Nations ambassadors to debate and resolve feisty international issues during a conference beginning here on Thursday.
The six students from Delhi Public School, New Delhi are among 2,300-odd students from New York, Beijing, Beirut, Berlin, London, Madrid and other cities who will participate in the 2006 'Global Classrooms: New York City Model UN Conference' sponsored by the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) and Merrill Lynch.
Russell Simmons, Chairman and CEO of Rush Communications and a New York City native, will challenge the students to take an active role in steering the future of their world. UNA-USA president Ambassador William H Luers, UN General Assembly president Jan Eliasson, Chancellor Joel I Klein, New York City Department of Education and Ahmass L Fakahany, vice chairman and Chief Administrative Officer of Merrill Lynch will draw upon their real-life experiences in preparing students for negotiating critical issues and debating solutions to key global issues.
"With the world moving so quickly, today's generation of students is more affected by what happens in every corner and on every continent of the world. Global Classrooms provides a strong foundation for understanding international affairs, which is a vital step to peaceful solutions to problems -- whether at the community or global level," said Ambassador Luers.
The Global Classrooms program brings international issues and the model UN experience to students in traditionally underserved schools and inner-city communities, to build their research, presentation and analytical skills.
Global Classrooms students typically spend a year or semester studying all aspects of a given country and then role-playing its position on key UN agenda items at the annual conference. It enriches students' knowledge of world affairs, conflict-resolution and the global economy.
"Seeing the world from a global perspective is one of the most critical insights that young people can acquire for business and for life," said Fakahany, adding, "This extraordinary gathering will influence their learning for many years. While globalization is bringing people closer together, it is also requiring our youth to develop certain skills and perspectives that will help them understand the importance of interconnectivity in the world."
"Global Classrooms will help today's youth to become tomorrow's global ambassadors and business leaders," he observed.