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UN: Young People

Volume 497: debated on Thursday 22 October 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his UN counterparts on involvement of young people from the UK in UN activities. (293806)

We strongly welcome interest from British young people on discussions with UN and other counterparts and encourage their involvement in appropriate activities. We are also very active on this issue in London. For example last year my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary hosted a reception for the UN Association's Young Professionals Network (YPN). The YPN brings together young professionals in their twenties and thirties who have a passion for international affairs and who support a strong role for the UN in responding to global challenges. A similar reception will be held in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) later this month.

We are also in close contact with the various Model UN groupings, and representatives from the FCO attend (and speak) at many of their conferences. We are able to provide small amounts of funding to allow these events to take place.

We regularly organise briefings to Model UN groups when they visit New York.