The Importance of Youth Voices

I can still remember my first Model United Nations experience: it was a month into my first year at Keele University, and the topic was a Halloween-themed zombie apocalypse. I won’t lie and say that I picked up the technical language easily (I still feel uncomfortable with phrases like ‘moderated caucus’), but it served as an interesting introduction to the United Nations, an organization I was aware of but knew very little about. Three years later, I’m still at Keele doing my master’s degree and am nearing the end of my tenure as president of the society. Learning about the work of the UN over the last few years has been eye-opening; I’ve chaired debates on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, and (of course) our Halloween-themed zombie apocalypse scenarios, the latter of which has always been a special highlight.

When the UNA-YP first contacted our society, I was immediately intrigued by the prospect of working with others outside Keele to promote the work of the UN. Before long, I had submitted two articles to the marketing team – one on the Rwanda genocide and another on former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold – and eventually joined as a newsletter contributor. Since then, I have written articles about how the UN is attempting to combat inadequate education systems in sub-Saharan Africa and about the legacy of the first African-American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall. Both of these topics are important, but for different reasons: the case of Thurgood Marshall reminds us to learn from the past, while the example of education in sub-Saharan Africa reminds us to look to the future.

Ensuring that young people have the opportunity to learn about these topics is vital to the work of the UNAYP. It has personally given me the chance to conduct research into the issues I am the most passionate about, and this research has then be shared with others wishing to learn more. Mobilising young people and encouraging them to care about issues facing the global community is the main way we can encourage the growth of young voices, and the newsletter is a crucial component of this.

Now that it has been relaunched, the UNAYP can serve as an outlet through which young

people can advocate social change. After all, the decisions being made by politicians today will disproportionately affect the young people of tomorrow. The Sustainable Development Goals – a set of seventeen objectives designed to bring about a better future – have been developed by the United Nations with young people in mind, so it is vital that we offer as much advice and criticism as possible. One of the most encouraging things we have seen over the past few years is an increase in student activism; climate change, war, and LGBTQ+ issues are just a few of the reasons why young people feel so passionately about changing the world we live in. A lot of work needs to be done, but the dedication and enthusiasm of young people is an unquestionably reassuring sight.

Model UN served as my gateway to learning more about the work of the United Nations, but the UNAYP helped me cultivate this interest. Attending a range of virtual events, including talks from ambassadors Richard Mills and Jeremy Greenstock, taught me how the real-world United Nations operated – a far cry from MUN-related terms like ‘moderated caucus’ and ‘speakers list.’ That being said, Model UN is an essential tool in the UNAYP’s arsenal, and one of our goals for the future should be to encourage its growth across the country. For many students, participating in Model UN gives them one of their first opportunities to voice opinions on the international issues that affect young people the most. This can lead to other forms of activism that will further allow them to develop their individual voice. It is essential that we have these voices speaking out against modern-day injustice, given that the politicians of today rarely seem to consider the impact of their policies on future generations. We need to let them know that our opinions matter, and being an active member of the UNAYP is one way we can do that.