THE United Nations (UN) on Wednesday observed UN Day by educating youth from secondary schools across Guyana on the work of the UN and on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Students from some 12 secondary schools across Guyana met with UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Guyana, Mikiko Tanaka, at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office, Brickdam. This was in observance of UN Day, observed on October 24 annually.

According to Tanaka, “This is the day that the United Nations was established in 1945 and we thought it would be good to invite students from secondary schools around the country to have an exchange about the UN, the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and the work we do.”

During the half-day session, Tanaka related: “The exchange helped us to talk about how the UN agencies here in the country work, the kind of work they do and help to understand what are some of the problems to development in Guyana.”

Importantly, many of the concerns raised by students and their accompanying teachers were centred around education. The representative highlighted that the students were informed that academics are equally as important as social skills, and their holistic health.

Furthermore, the engagement provided teachers with the opportunity to share what challenges they face and Tanaka noted that they did request help in some instances.

To this end, she highlighted that the UN agencies have regular programmes with the government ministries and non-governmental bodies because the aim is to build up the systems and institutions while bolstering the capacities of people. And with this in mind, the local UN body will work along with the relevant stakeholders to mitigate the challenges faced.

Though the engagement was primarily a learning experience for the children, the country representative mentioned that coming out of the engagement was information on how the UN can help the country to function better, so that developmental issues can be resolved.

“This was one outlet to get information directly from the students and also teachers,” she contended and highlighted, “I hope that this feedback continues.” The representative also posited that engagement is critical because the work being done will only be successful if everyone is involved and all parties work together. For her, the SDGs are very ambitious goals that cut across all sectors. “Development is something that really has to work together,” she stressed and added that working together will create synergies that will foster productivity and positive change. The United Nations was formed on October 24, 1945, following the end of World War II.

The SDGs are the overarching mandate of the UN and are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General Assembly: “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”