Over 1,500 Dominican and International Students Attend CILA 2008

More than 1,500 young people from the Dominican Republic, Latin America and other countries around the world participated in the IV International Conference of the Americas (CILA)
organized by the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic (UNA-DR), Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), which concluded on October 19.

Meeting since Wednesday, October 15 at the Barceló Bávaro Convention Center, the students
served as delegates from the different countries that make up the United Nations. As part of their search for solutions, they joined together to launch in the Dominican Republic the “Take a Stand Against Poverty and Millennium Development Goals” campaign. Singer Juan Luis Guerra and athlete Marcos Diaz joined them at this event.

CILA is one of the largest conferences in the Region, during which students, academics and experts on
related topics, challenges and goals meet with the international community with the intention of reaching consensus.

The Model United Nations is made up of 13 discussion committees that simulate the different UN organizations as well as other multilateral, regional and international institutions, in three languages: Spanish, English and French. 

While the conference was going on, there were also many seminars, conferences, workshops,
exhibitions and social and cultural activities on themes directly related to the UN Millennium Goals.

During the simulated working meetings of the UN Organs, the young people participated in debates on issues ranging from the protection and future recuperation of the environment, to the challenges facing Haiti and the struggle against HIV/AIDS, among other topics.

CILA 2008 also organized four related meetings that occurred simultaneously. One such
meeting was UNESCO’s Regional Youth Meeting, “Youth Networks and Policies: Building the Present and Future of the Americas,” which took place with the participation of delegations from abroad. The Regional Seminar-Workshop for United Nations and Global Affairs Reporters was also held, attended by journalists from various Dominican media affiliates and directors of United Nations Information Centers in various countries, including Brazil, Mexico and
Cuba.  The II Regional Meeting of High Level United Nations Associations and UN Information Centers from Latin America and the Caribbean, along with the Dominican-Haitian Forum on Entrepreneurship, Business Incubators and Youth Employment also took place.

The international conference was attended by President Leonel Fernández; First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández; Pilar Sandoval, UNA-DR Executive Director; Sergio Duarte, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament; Hedi Annabi, Special Representative to the United Nations Secretary General and Chief
of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH); Wataru Iwamoto, Director of Science, Research and Politics of the Human and Social Sciences Sector of UNESCO; and Boni Guerrero Canto, Secretary General of CILA 2008.

The Model United Nations and CILA  are initiatives of the United Nations Association of