Many Languages, One World Winners Attend 2016 Global Youth Forum
August 5, 2016
ELS Educational Services, in conjunction with the United Nations Academic Impact, invited 60 students to attend the Many Languages, One World® Global Youth Forum at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, from July 25-31, 2016.
The event culminated with the students presenting action plans at the United Nations General Assembly on July 29, 2016. 2016 is the third year that ELS Educational Services and the UNAI have organized the Many Languages, One World essay contest and Global Youth Forum.
The Many Languages, One World contest challenged college and university students around the globe to write an essay examining global citizenship, cultural understanding and the role that the multilingual ability can have in fostering both. Entrants submitted essays in one of the six official United Nations languages, which could be neither the student’s first language nor in his/her primary language of instruction. More than 9,000 individuals from 165 countries took part in the initial phase of the contest. The official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
At the Global Youth Forum, students were organized into groups based on the languages of their essays, and were asked to form action plans related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. On July 29, 2016, students presented those action plans in the United Nations General Assembly. The presentations were broadcast live in the six official languages on WebTV.UN.org. Winners also enjoyed a sight-seeing cruise in Manhattan, and trips to New York City landmarks Central Park and Times Square.
Of the 60 winners, nine were unable travel to the event due to issues with obtaining visas. Those students were invited to share a video, spoken in the language of their essay, to be shown at the United Nations in lieu of their speeches.
The event was promoted via social media using the hashtag #MLOW2016 throughout the week.
For more information about Many Languages, One World, please visit ManyLanguagesOneWorld.ELS.edu/MLOWNews