Close to 130 high school students from Slovakia and other countries are meeting for the tenth anniversary session of the Bratislava Model United Nations Conference, being held in the buildings of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the National Council of the Slovak Republic from 5-7 November.
Keynote speakers at the opening ceremony on 5 November were Mikuláš Dzurinda, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic; Tomáš Zálešák, policy advisor to the Vice-Chairman of the National Council of the Slovak Republic; Theodore Sedgwick, Ambassador of the United States; Michael Roberts, Ambassador of the United Kingdom; Andrew Spells, Director of the British Council Slovakia; Lubica Odrobinová, Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport; Eva Žitná, Head of the International School; Libor Mikolášik, Secretary-General of the Conference and Sonja Wintersberger, Deputy to the Director, UNIS Vienna.
"It is very promising to see that so many young people are interested in global issues and in the work of the United Nations," Foreign Minister Dzurinda stated in his opening speech, emphasizing that the United Nations was central to Slovak foreign policy in seeking effective and timely solutions to global challenges.
In her address to the opening session, UNIS Vienna Deputy to the Director Sonja Wintersberger said that an estimated half million or more students in more than 70 countries participated in Model UN conferences every year, reflecting the commitment of young citizens to the goals and values of the United Nations. The United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed the year commencing on 12 August 2010 as the International Year of Youth, aimed at harnessing the energy, imagination and initiative of the world's youth in overcoming the challenges facing humankind. "The United Nations Information Service Vienna is proud to support the Bratislava Model United Nations Conference in its tenth anniversary session," she stated.
The Bratislava Model United Nations Conference is organized by students of the secondary school Gymnázium Jura Hronca, under the auspices of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in cooperation with the Slovak Ministry of Education, with the support of UNIS Vienna, the British Council, the City of Bratislava and other partners.
