On 17 November, UNIS Vienna hosted a Student Forum on post 2005 World Summit developments: United Nations -- Renewal and Action. The symposium was held in cooperation with the City of Vienna and Vienna-based international organizations of the United Nations system at the Vienna International Centre. The purpose was to discuss the future of the United Nations after the 2005 World Summit.
Sessions were opened by a welcome address of Dr. Oskar Wawra, Director for International Relations, City of Vienna, and an inter-active presentation by Christian Strohmann, O-i-C UNIS Vienna, on the topic: "The outcome of the 2005 World Summit -- Is the glass at least half full?". Ms. Melissa Fleming, spokesperson of the IAEA, then led a discussion on the question: "What can Nobel Prize winner IAEA do to stop nuclear proliferation risks?"
Highlight of the Forum was a panel discussion with representatives of the Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Vienna of the four UNIS client countries -- Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Ambassador Mr. Thomas Stelzer of the Austrian Mission talked about terrorism and other security threats and the increasing role of Vienna-based organizations to address these issues more effectively. Ambassador Mr. Ernest Petric, Permanent Representative of Slovenia, provided students with valuable insight in the consequences of United Nations Member States' responsibility to protect. Reference to that topic was also made by the Alternate Permanent Representative of Slovakia, Mr. Tomás Hrbác. He focused on Security Council reform with regard to its extension and working methods while Ambassador Mrs. Györgyi Martin Zanathy, Permanent Representative of Hungary, emphasized the need to improve the United Nations image to win back the vital support of the general public. In a question and answer session panellists responded to numerous queries from the audience.
The event brought together close to 50 senior university students studying law, economics, international relations, political sciences and journalism from the four countries serviced by UNIS, and also 10 international students from Webster University representing four continents.
The entire programme of the UNIS Students' Forum was based on the information needs as expressed in an advance assessment by participating students. Students indicated particular interest in topics such as:
