Washington, DC, 18 December 2023 – The United Nations Information Center in Washington, DC (UNIC Washington) had a busy year in 2023 as it engaged in extensive outreach across the United States. With the aim of bolstering support in the country for UN work and values, UNIC Washington reached 3,318 people through a combination of in-person and virtual interactions.
More than 2,000 of these people were students. Over the year, UN officials met these middle school, high school and college students in person on their own campuses in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Ohio and Washington, DC. UNIC Washington also received in-person visits from high schools and universities based in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC – and virtually addressed student gatherings in Florida and Virginia. The topics of these interactions typically focused on why the UN matters and how it contributes to maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights and promoting sustainable development.
In 2023, UNIC Washington made a special effort to reach out to communities with which the UN had not typically interacted in the past, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and states outside the US’ northeast region.
On HBCUs, the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, visited Howard University’s Ralph J. Bunche Center on 8 February. Named after a UN hero, the Center gathered students interested in international affairs to hear Mr. Dujarric’s frank takes on global politics. UNIC Washington returned to Howard on 18 September to brief students on UN internship opportunities – together with the UN Association of the United States (UNA-USA). And then with UNA-USA’s support, UNIC Washington organized a day trip on 19 October from Washington, DC, to UN Headquarters in New York by Howard students. There, the students took the UN’s official Black history tour and met with the UN Secretariat’s second-highest official, Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, as well as other senior officials from the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations and the Department of Global Communications.
Meanwhile, UNIC Washington also deepened its links this year with Florida International University (FIU), one of the largest public universities in the United States and also the country’s largest HSI. On 24 January, Selwin Hart, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Climate Action visited FIU’s campus in Miami, where he engaged in discussions on climate justice and youth activism in the Americas. In addition, FIU students traveled to UNIC Washington’s office on 7 February to hear a joint briefing from UNIC Washington and the Organization of American States (OAS) on how the UN and OAS interact with Latin America and the Caribbean. The UNIC Washington team also visited FIU’s outpost in Washington, DC, twice during 2023 to brief students on a wide range of UN topics.
Among UNIC Washington’s outreach activities outside the northeast in 2023 was a visit to Ohio. The UN’s top communications official, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming, interacted with a wide cross section of Ohioans – in Cleveland and Oberlin – on multiple issues on the UN’s agenda, including Ukraine, climate change and information integrity. Her goal was to show how the UN and Ohio were natural partners when it came to tackling the world’s most pressing challenges – challenges that also affected the people of Ohio. Following the Under-Secretary-General’s visit, UNIC Washington Deputy Director Brenden Varma, who had accompanied her, continued onward to Columbus, Ohio, for engagements with the Ohio State University, one of the country’s largest public universities.
During UNIC Washington’s many engagements with students, one topic frequently arose: UN careers. Many students were interested in learning about what it was like to work for the UN and how they could seek employment with the Organization. This interest was not limited to students. UNIC Washington also received requests for career guidance from young and mid-career professionals as well. Recognizing the importance of bringing more Americans into the UN system, UNIC Washington met regularly with counterparts at the US State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs and the UN Association of the United States (UNA-USA) to coordinate outreach efforts. In briefings – such as the one UNIC Washington provided to the International Association of Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA) on 7 September – the goal was to demystify UN recruitment processes, describe the wide range of jobs available at the UN, and advise people on how to tailor their applications. In 2023, aside from the more than 2,000 students mentioned above, 680 non-students received career guidance from UNIC Washington – through virtual and in-person panels, presentations and career fairs.
While in Washington, DC, this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is absolutely essential.” In that regard, UNIC Washington has been proud to build and strengthen links between the UN and the American people – for the benefit of all.
