Youth

We had the pleasure of chatting with Elise Zerrath and Florian Nowack, the 2013 UN Youth Delegates from Germany, when they were in New York last fall for the General Assembly. Elise, 26, is from Lübeck, Germany and studied International Relations and Human Geography from St. Andrews University in Scotland. Florian, 24, hails from Lohne, Germany and studied International Business and Intercultural Studies at Heilbronn University.

This year, the Bulgarian Youth Delegates to the UN are Milena Andreeva, 26, and Peter Mladenov, 22. UNA-Bulgaria, in close cooperation with the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, manages the program. Both Milena and Peter were chosen through a highly competitive four-stage national competition.

Tiffany Taylor is the 2013 US Youth Observer at the United Nations, a role that serves as the American equivalent to a UN Youth Delegate. In the yearly search conducted by the U.S. Department of State and UNA-USA, the Gulfport, Mississippi native was chosen among more than 700 applicants for her rich international experience in the fields of women’s health and economic development.

The second UN Youth Delegate in our Q&A series is Dr. Richard Bido Medina from the Dominican Republic. The 23-year-old received his medical degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo at 21 and also works as a teaching assistant in physiology and pharmacology at the Universidad Catolica Tecnologica del Cibao. Along with his medical experience, Bido Medina has also participated in over 40 model UNs as a delegate and staff.

In 1995, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth, which invited member states to include youth representatives in their delegation. Thus, the UN Youth Delegate program was born. Almost 20 years later, the program has provided opportunities for youth participation within UN bodies such as the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee (also known as the Third Committee) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

RIO DE JANEIRO - The WFUNA Global Youth Forum was held from 7-11 November, 2012 in conjunction with the 40th WFUNA Plenary Assembly. Twenty-two youth delegates from 14 different UNAs participated in a set of training workshops on project management, media strategy, and communication strategy. The youth also had an opportunity to visit Favelas and work with local NGOs on a number of different community projects. 

From 9 – 11 August, WFUNA’s Youth Seminar on MDGs took place in New York. In this seminar, WFUNA hosted 11 members from 9 United Nations Associations. The participants in the seminar were members from the following UNAs: Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Suriname, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States, and Nepal.

The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) hosted Dominican Get-Togethers in the Big Apple on Thursday, April 19th, 2012. Our Secretary-General, Bonian Golmohammadi, was asked on behalf of the GFDD to participate in a panel discussion on youth and the Millennium Development Goals. Panel discussion participants included Marcos Diaz, famed professional swimmer and humanitarian, and Natasha Despotovic, Executive Director of GFDD.

The second Youth Seminar was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 29 June-1 July 2011, and successfully co-hosted by UNA-Argentina with fourteen participants from 9 UNAs and UNYAs around the world: Argentina, Republic of Korea, Uruguay, Mexico, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Russia, and Chile. 

In the spirit of the “International Year of Youth” launched by United Nations in August 2010, WFUNA began its Youth Seminar Series.