Welcome to the BERMUN Youth Assembly 2004 Website

The BERMUN Youth Assembly is intended to enable young people from different schools in different regions of the world to work together via the world wide web.

This year’s theme is devoted to:

Redefining the UN’s Role in the 21st Century:
Promoting Development and Democratization

Since its founding in 1945, the United Nations has proven to be an indispensable tool in world politics. The end of the Cold War held out the promise for improved cooperation between member states and for greater social and economic progress. Quickly, however, the new constellation of power, increasing globalization, and the augmented threat of terrorism, made the need for reform and restructuring of the UN increasingly apparent. Although discussion on reform of the UN has been on the agenda for a decade, substantial changes have been negligible.

For us as part of the future generation it seems mandatory that reforms to the UN organization be so conceived and implemented that the aims first posited in the Preamble of the Charter adopted in San Francisco on 26 June 1945 will continue to have relevance for us in the twenty first century. We believe that youth should concern itself with global political issues and search for ways and develop strategies to have an input in producing a world that young people would like to live in. In order to bring our belief in international cooperation and in the United Nations system to the broader public’s attention, we have decided to dedicate this year’s BERMUN to the question of reform of the United Nations.

For a further exploration and deeper understanding of the theme, the Youth Assembly will be divided into two sub-committees devoted to one of the following topics:

The Question of a U.N. Standing Army Promoting and Publicizing the Role and Work of the U.N. Amongst Youth in order to Enable Youth Councils to More Effectively Contribute to Peace, Development and Democratization

Through field work, research, interviews, and communication via the world wide web, YA members will explore ways of bringing youth closer to the UN. They will formulate recommendations addressing the two topics based on their research and interviews with public figures.

In order to enhance the influence of the younger generation, the Youth Assembly2004 will be further integrated into the BERMUN Conference by interacting with select committees.

The results will be synthesized into a presentation that will be shown at BERMUN and made available online. Furthermore we aim to give this document to the THIMUN Youth Network, other affiliated youth councils and UNAUSA in order to further promote our ideas.

Make your voice heard – participate in this year’s BERMUN Youth Assembly and fill out the BERMUN Youth Assembly Application Form.

The BERMUN Youth Assembly Team 2004 is looking forward to welcoming you!

Yours truly,

Frederic Carpenter, Laura Jung, Felix Lennert, Sandy McLarren and Timo Siempelkamp

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