In the run-up to UN Day, marked every year on 24 October, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo went back to his old school on Wednesday to raise awareness of the UN’s work, addressing an audience of 15 to 18-year-old students.
Minister De Croo kicked off the #Back2School campaign organised by the UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe on the occasion of UN day. During a period of two weeks before and after UN Day, the campaign aims to engage and inform 1,000 students about the work of the UN, the importance of global cooperation, climate action and sustainable development. Alongside the minister, over thirty UN officials from various programmes and agencies, UN youth delegates and UN associations will go back to their secondary schools across Belgium and Europe.
“I am delighted to take part in this UN campaign. Today’s young people are agents for change and key drivers of where our future is heading. It is important to engage them and includes their vision on the future we need and the future they want,” said De Croo when visiting his former school Da Vinci Campus in Ronse, Belgium.
The future generation of young professionals, leaders and activists is crucial to the UN, and the organisation wants to continue working closely with them. Young representatives from around the world participated in September’s UN Youth Climate Summit in New York. Next year, when the UN marks its 75th anniversary, the organisation plans to increase youth involvement by inviting them to global dialogues in order to shape our future together.
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For further information
Marian Blondeel, Head of the Benelux & EU Desk, United Nations Regional Information Centre, [email protected], 0032 489 31 58 04 or [email protected]
Background
The United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels works with all stakeholders in Europe – the European Union institutions, governments, all segments of the civil society and of course the media. UNRIC aims to inform and engage Europeans on the work of the UN and issues of global importance.