With a total of 19 UN4U lectures at 16 schools and universities, UN staff members from the Vienna based UN organizations -- including UNODC, CTBTO, UNOOSA, UNEP, -- together with UNIS staff reached out to close to 800 students in Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia as part of the UN4U programme coordinated by UNIS Vienna.
The wide range of topics not only displayed the work of the United Nations in Vienna, but also highlighted the priorities the Organization is focusing on and the challenges it faces in its day-to-day work with a versatile list of lecture topics from "Nuclear weapons and disarmament", "Space matters and the work of the UN office for Outer Space Affairs", to "Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling", "Sustainable Development and environmental protection", "The United Nations' Work in countering terrorism" and "UN's role in maintaining international peace and security".
The programme was very much appreciated by both students and teachers and gave the lecturers a unique opportunity to not only present the work of their organization / programme but to also engage with the young generation.
To commemorate UN Day on 24 October, UNIS Vienna organized a UN Career Day event for university students in cooperation with UNIPORT, the career service of the University of Vienna. Over 120 students enjoyed the programme, getting an insight of different ways to join the UN and having the opportunity to speak to UN staff members on their personal career path in the UN in small discussion groups.
UNIS Vienna also joined the UN Day celebration at the American International School in Vienna on 20 October with opening remarks by a UNIS representative and an information stand animated by tour guides who also organized mini-simulations of UN conferences with the primary school students and distributed information and promotion material. Over 400 children and parents took part in the celebration and participated in the different activities.
