Global Leadership English Challenge

Notices

BACKGROUND

Global Leadership English Challenge (GLEC) is an English Speech and Essay Writing Contest on the topics of the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and nuclear disarmament. With the world facing seemingly unresolvable matters, which range from environmental issues to refugee crises, GLEC aims to raise awareness and understanding of contemporary global issues of the participating students. Participants are expected to share their views on current issues and offer potential solutions to multifaceted global problems on the given themes based on their grade level.

“Small Move, Big Changes.”

Participants will go through two stages in their respective countries, and the final round winners will be invited to participate in the GLEC Global Conference, a four-day international academic conference on the UN and SDGs. Participants in the Global Conference will meet and exchange with UN high officials, scholars, ambassadors, international organization experts, and participating students from other countries. Through these events, GLEC will work as a stepping stone for participating students who wish to be future leaders in solving global challenges.

Maher Nasser is the Director of the Outreach Division in the United Nations Department of Global Communications(UNDGC). He also serves as the Commissioner-General for the United Nations’ participation in Expo 2020 in Dubai and as Chairman of the United Nations Publications Board.

He has served three times as the Acting Head of the Department of Global Communications. A veteran of the United Nations System for more than 30 years, he has held various positions in Gaza, Jerusalem, Amman, Cairo, Vienna and New York City.

I would like to congratulate you on your participation in the Global Leadership English Challenge (GLEC) Speech and Essay Writing Contest. I would also like to applaud that thank HOPE TO THE FUTURE ASSOCIATION for leading the efforts to organize this contest and for framing it around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You all should feel proud for taking the challenge and sharing your vision for a future in which Sustainable Development Goals 1, 3, 11 and 16 have been fully realized.

At 1.8 billion, you are part of the largest generation of young people in history and you are more connected and aware of global issues than any generation before you. World leaders have agreed that the Global Goals are the best fix for many of our global challenges. The GLEC contest is our opportunity to listen to your takes on the global challenges faced by us all, and your proposed solutions for achieving the future envisioned in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

All indications show us that we are not on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030. That is why last week at the United Nations, the Secretary-General launched a Decade of Action: Delivering the SDGs by 2030. Included in the Decade will be an annual Global Week to #Act4SDGs. The most recent one, held from 20 to 30 September 2019, rallied the kind of public support that we need to accelerate momentum. We count on you to make this week part of your annual agenda from now until 2030.

The United Nations’ #ActNow Climate Action campaign has also shown us that individual action can be the answer to climate change, the defining issue of our time. By changing everyday habits and routines, and making choices that have less harmful effects on the environment, every one of us has the power to confront the climate challenge.

The world’s problems, from climate change and poverty to human rights and the threat caused by nuclear weapons, cannot be solved in conference rooms alone. We need everyone to act and everyone to advocate in their communities and with their leaders to get us back on track to fulfill the promises of Agenda 2030. I hope this contest can serve as a platform for you to showcase your action at home, on-campus or in your community.

As you discuss the SDGs and nuclear disarmament, try to connect these global challenges to your everyday life. And thank you for helping us spread the word through your essays and speeches. I look forward to hearing your solutions for a more peaceful and prosperous world. Thank you!