"What can the US do to help ensure environmental sustainability?"
The world has changed vastly since the days of the UN's founding. In the aftermath of World War II, the UN was created to ensure peace between nations. Today, the UN takes on a host of global issues beyond peace and security, such as human rights, health, poverty, environmental sustainability and economic development. During the past 60 years, the UN also has been witness to significant geopolitical change throughout the world. Historic events ranging from decolonization to the fall of the iron curtain to the rise of the global economy mean that the UN is operating in a very different world than it was six decades ago.
Since 1986, the National High School Essay Contest on the United Nations has inspired students to engage global issues and the work of the UN through scholarship and critical thinking. Each year, the United Nations Association of the USA publishes a topic and question of particular importance to the international community. Students then conduct research and write a response to the question, based not only on the information they have found, but also on their own views and opinion. It is vital to engage high school students in learning about the UN's role, especially as it becomes ever more apparent that all people must think of themselves as citizens not only of a particular town or country, but of the world as well.
This year's National High School Essay Contest on the United Nations focuses on Millennium Development Goal Seven, and asks students to tackle the challenge of ensuring environmental sustainability. Students will write a letter to the President of the United States answering the following questions:
1. Why is ensuring environmental sustainability so important?
2. What should the United States do to ensure that Millennium Development Goal Seven will be reached by 2015?
*For general inquiries & more information, please contact essay2009@unausa.org.