The United Nations Office in Nigeria and Premiere Academy, Abuja have organised a special youth conference to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the formation of the United Nations.
Tagged: “Premiere Academy International Model UN” (PAIMUN) Conference, the novel one-day event which aimed at simulating the procedural working of the UN General Assembly for clearer understanding of the youth populace, was facilitated by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Abuja.
The session featured 109 students of the Abuja School playing the roles of ambassadors of UN member states, in a special imitation of the UN General Assembly session with the theme: UN@80: “Building the Future Together.”
Students witnessed a video goodwill message from the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, with speeches from the PAIMUN General Assembly President, Daniella Ituen and Secretary-General, Timileyin Adewuyi.
There was also the presentation of the PAIMUN 2025 General Assembly resolution by the plenary rapporteur, Trust Idahosa before the adoption of the resolution by participating countries.
On ground as observers at the special session were dignitaries such as the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Mohamed Fall, other senior officials of UN Nigeria office, top management staff of Premiere Academy as well as guests from within and outside the school community.
In her speech, Ituen identified the major challenges currently facing the world as conflict, insecurity, climate-related shock, poverty, and inequality.
She appealed to global leaders to prioritise policy and institutional commitments to fostering a sustainable global future that is anchored on seven pillars.
These, according to her, include shared responsibility, equity and inclusion, digital revolution and solidarity across borders; others include sustainable development for all, transformational global governance and Investment in youths.
In the same vein, the Secretary-General described the theme of the plenary session: “Building the Future Together,” as not just a slogan, but a call to action to fashion out a shared global response to the increasing shared global challenges in the interest of entrenching shared development for the whole of humanity.
He urged all member nations to consider and adopt five guiding principles in the task of working towards ‘Building the Future Together’ successfully.
These are peace through dialogue, equity and inclusion, non-negotiable climate action, technological empowerment and global solidarity.
Speaking on the success of the conference in affording the participating students opportunity to showcase their brilliance and knowledge of the operation of the UN General Assembly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Mohamed Fall, pledged the readiness of the UN to sustain and widen its commitment to supporting young Nigerians to imbibe diplomacy as skills to ensure a better future.
He said it was high time the UN was taken out of formal space like interaction with governments, to get young people and civil society involved.
“Let us not forget that the UN was established to prevent conflict, promote security, human dignity, and development, as well as provide assistance to the most vulnerable and leave no one behind.
“It is time for us to double down, reinforce them, and spread this message. What I have seen young people do in this regard, and especially by today’s simulation session, is part of it, because the future is theirs.
“Getting them trained and knowing how UN functions, learning diplomacy, learning a tactful and peaceful way of solving differences is critical in today’s world. Young people need to understand that the future is theirs. Today’s and tomorrow’s shape has to be done by them. It is their call,” he stressed.
Fall also thanked Premiere Academy and its students for the first-of-its-kind PAIMUN Conference and promised to sustain the collaboration between the UN office and the school to improve on the success of the maiden edition.
He also disclosed his plan to extend the conference beyond Abuja, to accommodate the 36 states and all local government areas in the country.
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