Learning About the United Nations Through Distance Education
By Suresh Srivastava
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At a time when the role of the United Nations has come under deep scrutiny, the need for strengthening the Organization’s contribution to world polity has become more imperative than ever.
The Indian Federation of United Nations Associations (IFUNA) has since 1962 been engaged in the vital dissemination of awareness about the United Nations role and its myriad activities in promoting world peace and development. The IFUNA Institute of U.N. Studies is a key organization involved in the spreading of knowledge regarding UN activities and functions. The Institute, based in India, was established in 1969 as the Department of Indian Federation of United Nations Associations, under the chairmanship of Nagendra Singh, an international civil servant and then Judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The Institute conducts a six-month correspondence course on the "United Nations and international understanding", which aims to: impart basic knowledge about the United Nations and its specialized agencies; develop awareness of its aims, objectives and ideals; stimulate people’s participation in its programmes, activities and achievements; promote research, information, communication and education about the aims and objectives of the United Nations Charter and its work; and promote the interest of youth in the United Nations and its role in establishing world peace and harmony among nations.
The course has received high accolades at various national and international fora. The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) has commended it and expressed a keen desire for UN Associations in other countries to emulate the course. WFUNA extended strong support, as the course enables a more nuanced knowledge of UN activities, vis-à-vis contemporary human rights issues, foreign policy and projects, such as women’s development, anti-child-labour programmes, literacy, education, health and sanitation.
The course contains seven compulsory subjects, spanning the historical imperatives behind the formation of the United Nations, its structure, constitution and objectives, and eighteen optional subjects covering a wide spectrum of relevant issues, from the study of UN specialized agencies, commissions and organs and their character, to their role in peacekeeping and development projects worldwide. Both compulsory and optional papers are designed in a format that would optimize the student’s knowledge, allowing simultaneously a dialectical and energetic approach to the evaluation of the UN role in global dynamics.
The course attracts people from all walks of life and is designed to appeal particularly to today’s students, who are multi-taskers and for whom "all the world is a stage" to prove their worth and mettle. Over the years, a considerable number of students have evinced interest in and completed the course. Its success lies in the ability to attract students who are stimulated by a preliminary interest in the United Nations and then to supplement this with an enthusiastic and zealous appreciation of the Organization’s importance in contemporary world politics. Students have maintained a commendably high performance record and have directly attributed their success in various competitive fields to the knowledge and comprehension gained from completing the course.
The Institute’s student profile has shown equal participation by Indian and foreign students, especially from Afro-Asian countries pursuing higher education in India, thereby indicating the transnational and truly global aspect of the course. Upon successful completion, they are awarded a diploma—an academic certification given by the Institute that assesses their holistic knowledge of and competence in the subject.
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Suresh Srivastava is Secretary General of IFUNA and Vice-President of WFUNA, Geneva. “Ensemble on United Nations” was published by the Institute of U.N. Studies. For more information, contact the Institute at funa@bol.net.in or ifuna@mail.com, or visit its website at www.ifuna.org. |
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