UN Youth New Zealand

UN Youth New Zealand

Abbreviation	UN Youth NZ
Motto	Inspiring global citizens
Formation	1999
Type	Non-governmental organisation
Headquarters	Wellington
Location	National
Membership	Open membership
President	Bhenjamin Goodsir
Main organ	National Council, National Executive
Parent organization	United Nations Association of New Zealand (UNANZ)
Affiliations	World Federation of United Nations Associations
Staff	60-80 volunteer officeholders, mostly university students
Website	www.unyouth.org.nz

UN Youth New Zealand (formerly the United Nations Youth Association of New Zealand or UNYANZ) serves as the youth arm of the United Nations Association of New Zealand (UNANZ) and is one of the largest youth organisations in New Zealand.

UN Youth is a member of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), which in turn has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

UN Youth is a non-profit community organisation run by volunteer young people (aged 25 and under or full-time tertiary students).

Activities

UN Youth runs approximately 25-30 regional and national events for secondary school and university students throughout the calendar year. Regional events are coordinated by the Regional Councils,^[1] while national events are overseen by the UN Youth National Executive.

The key events are the Model United Nations (Model UN). A Model UN conference involves each participant taking on the stance of a particular country and debating a number of resolutions from that stance, all within formal rules of procedure similar to the United Nations General Assembly. Model UN conferences take place in each region, with a national conference taking place each July in New Zealand's capital, Wellington. New Zealand Model United Nations (NZ Model UN) involves approximately 250 secondary school students. ^[2]

UN Youth also facilitates and assembles delegations of New Zealand students to attend international conferences which focus on the United Nations and international affairs. UN Youth New Zealand currently send delegations to:

The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN), a major international Model UN conference, held in The Hague, Netherlands.
United Nations Youth Conference (UNYC) held in Australia, organised by the United Nations Youth Association of Australia, under an event known as the Pacific Project.
Asia Pacific Model United Nations Conference (AMUNC) held in the Asia-Pacific region, hosted annually by universities for university students.
Harvard National Model UN held at Harvard University, in the United States, sent under a tour known as StatesMUN.

Structure of UN Youth

National Council

The National Council is the highest policy-making representative body, composed of the organisations' National and Regional office holders. National Council meets 3-4 times a year around the country to discuss how the organisation is running and to give policy direction to those who are administering UN Youth nationally (the National Executive), regionally (Regional Councils) and those running events or facilitating delegations.

National Council comprises the National Executive (President and National Officers), Regional Presidents, the highest ranking Coordinator of a National event, the highest ranking Director of an International event, and other positions as appointed by the National Executive. Voting rights are held by the following positions:

National Executive: Bhenjamin Goodsir
National Events: Emma Rennie
International Events: Scott Bickerton-Walsh
Auckland: Cecilia Fang
Canterbury: Ashley Stuart
Otago: Bokyong Mun
Wellington: Jack Kerkvliet^[3]

National Executive

The National Executive is the committee charged with managing UN Youth at a national level, as directed by the National Council. The National Executive is accountable under the National Council, and is elected at the organisation's Annual General Meeting, held at the end of every year.

Whereas the National Council meets quarterly to hold the National Executive, regional branches and various UN Youth programmes to account and to set the organisation's broader policies and direction, the National Executive is charged with implementing that policy and direction on a day-to-day basis.^[4]

The current National Executive is composed of:

President: Bhenjamin Goodsir
National Communications Officer: Position Vacant, Pending Election
National Education Officer: Ash Stanley-Ryan
National Finances Officer: Bowen Shi
National Operations Officer: Joshua Walker
National Relations Officer: Alex Stevenson
National Volunteers Officer: Position Vacant, Pending Election^[5]

Regional Councils

UN Youth has four regions - Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury and Otago.^[6] The regions are charged with carrying out the purpose of UN Youth through operating regional level events. The regions are also held accountable by the UN Youth National Council, and the members are elected by an AGM held annually in the region. Each region is headed by a Regional President, and these are currently -

Auckland: Cecilia Fang^[7]
Canterbury: Ashley Stuart^[8]
Otago: Bokyong Mun^[9]
Wellington: Jack Kerkvliet^[10]

Annual events

Universities' Model UN (UniMUN): Regional, typically annual university-based model UN events for tertiary students, run by UN Youth's Regional councils.
NZ Model UN (NZMUN): The national Model United Nations event for New Zealand. Held annually in the capital Wellington, often on the campus of Victoria University. The Coordinator of this event for 2015 was Emma Rennie, the Coordinator for 2016 is Yao Dong.
NZ Model Security Council (NZMSC): The national Model UN event for university students. NZ Model Security Council is held annually at rotating locations around New Zealand. In 2013, it was held at Otago University with the 2014 event being held in Christchurch.
The Hague International Model UN (THIMUN): UN Youth sends a delegation of 22 high school students + four directors (often older university students) to The Hague International Model United Nations. Prior to the conference, delegations embark on a study tour throughout North America and Europe. The 2015 tour visited New York, Geneva, Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam and the Hague. While in these locations, activities included sightseeing, educational excursions, visits to New Zealand Embassies and the UN Headquarters in both New York and Geneva. The Director of the 2015 Delegation was Ana Lenard.
Aotearoa Youth Declaration: An annual event which brings together high school students from around the country to prepare and write a 'Youth Declaration' document which is present to Members of Parliament.
Pacific Project: An international trip involving delegation of secondary students. The trip has two components: Attending UN Youth (Australia) national conference, and volunteering in Pacific countries. The 2013 delegation volunteered in Vanuatu, whilst the 2014 delegation is to volunteer in Samoa.

Additionally regional councils run their own locally organised and attended MUN's thought NZ. Many are run on an annual basis often with additional conferences being organised throughout the year.

References

External links

Official website

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