A contingent of Burnaby School District students will be attending a special event honouring the 70^th anniversary of the United Nations this upcoming Wednesday, March 30^th. This event ends the string of organized Burnaby events directly related to UN70. Our students will join others from across Metro Vancouver to devise strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recently adopted by the United Nations.

The United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) is hosting this Mini Model UN Forum as part of its Canada UpClose and Personal Initiative supported by funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage.

The event will include keynote speakers and breakout sessions devoted to country perspectives on the SDGs. The event is designed for students to better understand the UN and the SDGs, to develop a network of like-minded friends, and to enhance individual leadership and collaborative skills. Students will receive a UNA-Canada Certificate for their participation.

The Mini Model UN event takes place at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary in Vancouver from 10am to 2pm and Burnaby students will be bussed to this location thanks to the funding by UNA-Canada.

Burnaby staff assisted in the planning, organization and implementation of the event, with thanks to G. Neumann, D. Moore and A. Lee for their support to build awareness about the SDGs, organize and accompany a group of Burnaby students to attend and to assist in creating materials. Melinda Walker, Project Consultant with UNA-Canada was pleased to see the numbers of Burnaby students interested in getting involved in activities surrounding current global issues, many of them as Mentors for the duration of the event.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that this “new agenda is a promise by leaders to all people everywhere…to end poverty in all its forms.” The true test of the SDGs will be in their implementation around the world. How should countries and the United Nations agencies begin this great challenge? We shall await this upcoming Mini Model UN Forum and the deliberations of the students to better understand how youth might answer this question!