In collaboration with UNICEF, secondary school students from Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium schools organisation, converged in New York City this week for seminars, debates and speaking opportunities at the 2018 Global Goals Student Summit. The Summit’s main event took place today as selected students gave presentations at the Headquarters of United Nations during the High Level Political Forum (HLPF).
This year, 83 students from 33 Nord Anglia Education schools in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and China joined the Student Summit in New York City to share their thoughts on sustainability and to discuss what has been accomplished in their own school community throughout the past academic year. At the HLPF, these students urged government officials to incorporate sustainability concepts and practices into school curriculums for the sake of future generations.
The Student Summit, held for the second time in New York City, serves as the capstone event of Nord Anglia Education’s annual work on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including action taken as part of the World’s Largest Lesson. In addition to those students who joined the event, students across Nord Anglia Education’s family of 55 schools have been hard at work throughout the academic year raising awareness of SDGs to create solutions for sustainability issues.
The SDGs are a collection of 17 goals set by the United Nations regarding social and economic development issues. The idea is for nations to tackle these goals by 2030 to make the world a better place with the help of citizens, companies and students. This year, Nord Anglia students focused on meeting:
Goal 11, which seeks to ensure sustainable cities and communities; and
Goal 12, which is all about responsible consumption and production practices.
UNICEF annually invites Nord Anglia student ambassadors to present their ideas on the SDGs at an event during the United Nations High Level Political Forum, which takes place at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. This is a unique opportunity for Nord Anglia students to contribute to the discussion and influence policy at the highest level.
"At Nord Anglia Education, we empower our students to positively impact their individual communities and the world at large," said Nord Anglia Education CEO Andrew Fitzmaurice. "Through our collaboration with UNICEF and the World’s Largest Lesson, students across our schools have been hard at work coming up with creative ideas regarding sustainable communities and responsible consumption practices. We are looking forward to how they will influence the world through their presentations during the summit in New York."
"UNICEF is thrilled that schools such as those in the Nord Anglia Education family are using the World’s Largest Lesson to teach young people about the SDGs and inspire them to take action," said Shannon O’Shea, UNICEF’s Agenda 2030 Partnership Manager and Team Leader. "The success of the SDGs rests on our children and young people being involved. This is essential for their own personal development as responsible global citizens, as well as for the vibrancy and health of our communities and countries."