In celebration of Lehigh’s 20th anniversary of partnership with the United Nations, an event was hosted in the Business Innovation Building on Oct. 24. UN Youth Representatives, diplomats and program leaders, and Lehigh Alumni gathered to commemorate the milestone.
According to the Office of International Affairs website, Lehigh became the sixth university to attain a Non-Governmental Organization accreditation at the UN in 2004.
Bill Hunter, the director of fellowship advising and UN programs, said Lehigh is currently the only university in the world that has a youth representative program established with the UN.
Hunter said the event served as a way to honor the release of the UN Youth Representative Journal — the first of its kind — which features the accomplishments of UN Youth Representatives.
“The Iacocca Institute partnered with us to help us fund this journal, and it is a celebration of what these amazing young people are doing at the UN that’s never been collected or collated before,” Hunter said.
Zahra Hassan, ’24, left, talks to Jayashri Wyatt, the Chief of Education Outreach in the UN Dept. of Global Communications during the anniversary event on Oct. 24, in the Business Innovation Building. This took place at the event to commemorate the 20th anniversary for the Lehigh University and United Nations partnership. (Bukky Omole/ B&W Staff)
Julia Wilczynski, ‘25, is a UN Youth Representative working with the Centre for Women Studies and Intervention, an NGO located in Nigeria.
Wilczynski said she works with the NGO by communicating their needs to the UN. She said she drafts written works and serves as a line of communication with the UN for events such as the Commission on the Status of Women.
“I think UN Day is important,” Wilczynski said. “We get together, collaborate, and network to see what other people are representing, and how we can work to drive sustainable development (in an effort to) try to work towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.”
Hunter said the UN program has been supporting these goals since 2015, and he wanted to use the event to make them more clear for the campus community.
Izzy Canadine, ’27, stands in front of her table for the Global Studies Department during the 20th anniversary event for the Lehigh University and UN Partnership on Oct. 24, in the Business Innovation Building. During the event, Canadine was able to share information on how the Global Studies Program connects to the UN partnership. (Bukky Omole/B&W Staff)
Wilczynski said the UN Youth Representative Journal is a compilation of all the youth representatives’ work as it contains personal statements and recaps past events. She said it’s a great way to display the program.
“We created (the journal) to share with the world,” Hunter said. “We really want to expand out to all the young people around the world who are youth representatives.”
Kyra Szabo, ‘25, Youth Representative for the American Association of University Women, said she’s been involved with the NGO for over two years.
Szabo said the organization fights for women’s equity, and they encourage women to become more involved in STEM and financial literacy.
“It’s exciting to be able to work for an organization that I’m passionate about and also to be able to get youth voices out there and make an impact,” Szabo said.
Jennifer Maxwell, left, the Program Manager at the Iacocca Institute, and Anastassiya Perevezemtseva, middle, the Assistant Director of the Iaccoca International Internship Program, talk to the Lehigh community and others, during the UN anniversary event on Oct. 24, at the Business Innovation Building. Maxwell and Perevezemtseva talk about the different programs the Iaccoca Institute offers and opportunities to get involved. (Bukky Omole/B&W Staff)
Aliya Haddon, ‘23, was one of the alumni in attendance at the event and said ever since her first visit to the UN, she wanted to be more involved with the Lehigh/UN Partnership. She pursued a six-month internship at the UN after graduating from Lehigh.
“I think Lehigh students should absolutely take advantage of the Lehigh/UN partnership while being on this campus because it’s such a unique opportunity,” Haddon said.
Hunter said UN officials who were in attendance received a copy of the journal. He said he hopes the journal will eventually reach a worldwide audience as it’s currently in the process of being digitalized.
“Today we have alums coming back who were with us on the day that we got our UN accreditation. This (event) is both a look back and look forward,” Hunter said. “It might sound strange to say, but we have only begun.”
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