UN Youth Australia is a national youth-led organisation which seeks to educate and empower young Australians on global issues and foster an understanding of the work of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, human rights and International relations in young Australians. The organisation is fully operated by volunteers who have left high school and are under the age of 24, over 15,000 young people participate in UN Youth Australia’s programs, activities and events each year. UN Youth Australia is affiliated with, but is not a division of or run by, the

United Nations Association of Australia The United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) is the official non-profit, non-government, membership-based, organisation in Australia working on behalf of the United Nations core body to promote its overall aims and ideals, and equally s ...

which has a consultative status with

ECOSOC The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

as a member of the

World Federation of United Nations Associations The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) (French: ''Fédération Mondiale des Associations pour les Nations Unies'', FMANU) was founded in 1946 as a Federation of national associations. Its objectives are to promote the values o ...

. UN Youth also works closely with The

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

on the annual Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations program. UN Youth is a federated organisation overseen by the Board of Directors which appoint a National Executive, with divisions in each state and territory overseen by independent executives. Each division is run independently and collaborate to organise national events and programs.

Activities

UN Youth Australia is run entirely by a team of over 1,000 volunteers aged under 25.

National Activities

UN Youth Australia holds three annual national events: the UN Youth National Conference, the National Finals of the Evatt Competition, a UN Security Council Competition named after Dr H.V. Evatt, and the National Finals of the Voice Competition, a public speaking competition. Participants in these conferences are students from secondary schools across Australia. The conferences are held in Australian capital cities designated on a rotational system.

National Conference

National Conference is a week-long educational conference for students in year 9 to 12, held in a different capital city each year. Each State and Territory division of UN Youth Australia,

UN Youth New Zealand UN Youth New Zealand (formerly the United Nations Youth Association of New Zealand or UNYANZ) is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation and a registered Charitable organization, charity. Its members are all aged 25 or unde ...

and some international organisations send delegates to National Conference.

Evatt Competition

UN Youth Australia and its State and Territory divisions organises one of the largest high school tournaments in Australia: the National Evatt Competition which is a

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

competition named after the distinguished Australian politician, diplomat and jurist Dr H.V. Evatt.

Voice Competition

Voice is a public speaking competition for students in years 7 to 10. Student are asked to pitch a solution to a social, economic or political problem, and then answer impromptu questions from the judges.

International Activities

In addition to domestic conferences, UN Youth Australia also operates six international tours.

American Political Tour

Each year in January, a delegation of secondary school students tours the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, meeting US and UN officials in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Young Diplomats Tour

Also in January, UN Youth Australia sends a delegation of 16 secondary school students to visit the

United Nations Office in Vienna The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) is one of the four major office sites of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The office complex is located in Vienna, the capital of Austria, and is part of the ...

as part of a European tour focusing on international relations, modern history, and organisations in Europe relevant to global politics.

Timor-Leste Project

In July UN Youth Australia runs the Pacific Project which, in partnership wit
Destination Dreaming
arranges for secondary school students to visit development projects, meet diplomats, see NGO operations first hand, and have a chance to experience life in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

Aotearoa Leadership Tour

Also in July, the organisation sends a delegation of secondary school students on the Aotearoa Leadership Tour which promotes interculturalism and engagement between indigenous and non-indigenous young Australians through a tour of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

focusing on

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

culture and Maori-

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

relations, organised in close collaboration with

Middle East Experience

In 2015, UN Youth Australia began the Middle East Experience program, in which secondary school delegates tour 2 countries in the region.

Emerging Leaders Program

In 2019, UN Youth Australia launched the Emerging Leaders Program, in which 16 secondary students from all over Australia tour Japan, South Korea and China.

Divisional Activities

Divisions of UN Youth Australia also coordinate events in their State or Territory, such as annual State Conferences and divisional rounds of the Evatt Competition, Voice Competition, educative school visits and speakers forums.

Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations

Each year since 1999, UN Youth Australia works with the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

to select and support a Youth Representative to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. The Youth Representative holds an extensive, nationwide consultation tour to engage with and discover the issues that are most important to young Australians, and travels to New York as an accredited member of the Australian Mission to represent Australian youth at the United Nations.

Office holders

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.unyouth.org.au/ World Federation of United Nations Associations

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Youth in Australia Youth organisations based in Australia