GFDD/Funglode, ANU-RD and Globalmuners Kick Off the New York Model United Nations Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean

New York, NY. – The New York Model United Nations Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (NYMUNLAC 2019) began at the Convention Center of the Hotel Grand Hyatt in New York, featuring the participation of more than 400 students from the US, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.

The event will take place from April 21 to April 25 with support from the Dominican Association of the United Nations (ANU-RD); the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), and its sister organization in the Dominican Republic, Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode) and the Mexican Civil Association, GlobalMuners.

For more than 10 years ANU-RD has worked with the conference in New York, held at the main headquarters of the United Nations, where representatives of the Member States to the multilateral organization periodically gather.

The opening ceremony was headed by Aida Montero, representative of ANU-RD; Yamile Eusebio, the GFDD New York Office Director; Pilar Sandoval, general director of the Mexican Civil Association, GlobalMuners; Mariana Castro, national official from the United Nations Information Center for Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic (CINU, for its initials in Spanish); Ignacio Soriano, general manager of ANU-RD; Luz Andújar González, advisor to the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations; Fernando de la Mora Salcedo, Second Secretary to the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations; Bélgica Paredes, President of the United Nations Council of Educators (CENU, for its initials in Spanish) and Domingo Melenciano, NYMUNLAC 2019 General Secretary.

Domingo Melenciano gave opening remarks in which he made a call to the attendees. “Together let’s make this edition of the NYMUNLAC a historic experience. Let’s make this the platform we have all been waiting for, to promote good values and the beginning of the creation of a better future for our children and society,” he said.

Aida Montero, representing Edwin Jackson, the executive director of ANU-RD; offered some motivation to the participants; as did Pilar Sandoval and Mariana Castro, who spoke about the impact of the Model United Nations on the life of participants and about the positive changes that young people can make in the current world.

The leaders of each delegation in the United Nation Summit on Climate Change (UNSCC) made their speeches on the topic “Climate Change: A Challenge that we Can Overcome.” The presentations were made by representatives of the countries that make up the States of Africa; the group of the States of Asia and the Pacific; the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE); the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

The agenda of the conference was directed by Gabriel Fernández and Ana Karen Hevia, president and vice-president of the NYMUNLAC 2019 General Committee, respectively.

Domingo Melenciano, in his capacity as General Secretary of NYMUNLAC 2019, hit the gavel to initiate and close out the opening ceremony.

Guillermo Sarita, a young lawyer and volunteer with ANU-RD, was the head of the opening ceremony.

The event was kicked off with the national anthems of the Dominican Republic and the United Mexican States.