Up to 60 Spanish students were received at the United Nations headquarters in New York to present their social and sustainable proposals to the Youth Department of the international organization. The expedition read a manifesto with some of the concerns and commitments of Spanish youth on issues such as climate change and social inequality, and shared a package of sustainable projects that they have developed throughout the course within The Challenge social entrepreneurship program of EduCaixa.
The group of students displaced to the United States is made up of 17 teams of 3 or 4 students each from 3rd and 4th year of ESO, Baccalaureate and intermediate FP, selected among the more than 1,546 applications that were submitted to The Challenge. His projects focus on social challenges such as mental health and well-being, protecting the planet, peace and prosperity, and all of them are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These young students had the opportunity last Friday to read a manifesto at the UN headquarters. It collected some of the concerns of Spanish youth on issues such as climate change and social inequality. Misinformation, a passive attitude towards the achievement of the SDGs and the current consumption model were some of the highlights of the text.
“We know that there is a whole generation of young people fully committed to the social challenges the world is facing and we want to put all their talent at the service of society”, explains Xavier Bertolín, corporate director of education and marketing at Fundación la Caixa, who accompanied to the selected group during the reception at the UN headquarters.
These guys -he continues- "have shown an essential sensitivity and ingenuity to address present and future collective challenges, and for this reason we want them to be able to represent us beyond our country".
For his part, Brighton Mukupa Kaoma, Global Youth Director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, expressed his satisfaction at partnering "with EduCaixa to provide the 60 students and their teachers with an incomparable experience with the aim of learning about the UN and contribute their voices to the highest level of international diplomacy.”
The group's stay in the US will last until July 8 and includes visits to some of the most prestigious universities, such as MIT, cultural activities and meetings with postgraduate scholarship holders from the la Caixa Foundation, a visit to Beauty for Freedom, an NGO that raises funds to combat human trafficking, and a talk with Eli de los Pinos, director of Aura Biosciences, a project that investigates new cancer therapies.
