Linking Youth to a Global Future 2012
In its 2012 celebration of Black History Month, the Education Committee of the United Nations Association of New York in collaboration with The Links, Incorporated (Central New Jersey Chapter), launched their leadership and diversity program with the Young Scholars Institute (NJ) and Youth for Understanding (NY and MA) at the Schomburg Museum in New York.
International initiatives relating to education, health and global issues will be the focus of the program, Linking Youth to a Global Future, in a strong alignment with the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Students each week engage in leadership and diversity training, which prepare them for global leadership in tomorrow's careers and services. Relevant student issues and discussions on combating stereotyping and discrimination, appreciating the importance of language in discussing multicultural, social justice in and around the world, and the continuous monitoring and observing of initiatives and our world's MDGs (as our world journeys to the 2015 finish line) are this year's goals and objectives.
UNA-NYC has realized sustainable programming with The Links, Inc. for 3 years. As we expand and broaden partnerships through common goals and objectives, the Education Committee will further establish partnerships and collaborations with colleges and universities that UNA-NYC establish as Student Alliances of the MDGs.
Some of the highlights of our partnership programs included: a day at the United Nations, privately hosted by Ambassadors' wives of France, Rwanda, the Philippines, and Hungary, in 2009; an evening at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in NYC with Ambassador Baso Sangqu and Former Executive Director of American Committee on Africa, Jennifer Davis and the film documentary, 'From Selma to Soweto'; and an evening with Haitian-American Christi Desir, UN Film Committee Member, on the post-Haiti crisis, in 2011.
This year's field trip to the Schomburg Museum and Center for Research in Black Culture was educational and exciting for students who toured the museum and saw the 2012 exhibits featuring President Barack Obama and Malcolm X. They also watched the award winning documentary "A Small Act," about education 'across the miles' in the country of Kenya, where students academically competed for scholarships to attend high school.
The Honorable Dr. Josephine Ojiambo, the Kenyan Ambassador, shared exciting stories with the students on her life in Kenya, her country's work and achievements in reaching our related initiatives to the MDGs, and the importance of students as global learners and active leader participants in our world today and tomorrow.
For more information on partnerships and collaborative planning and program initiatives, please contact UNANYC's Education Chair, Dr. Chonita A. Spencer: cspencereddlpc@aol.com.
