Exclusive: King Charles at the United Nations

Over the summer holidays, a group of year twelve Wyre Forest students went on a study trip to Geneva to learn about how the United Nations works. The trip was run and organised by the ContinU Trust consortium of Wyre Forest and Hagley schools and aimed to highlight the significance of working collaboratively on a local, regional and global scale.

Jack Brookes, Laura Brennan and Craig Bateman made up the delegation of students who went from King Charles. The five-day Global Young Citizenship Conference consisted of meetings with representatives from various commissions and agencies working at the UN offices in Geneva, including UNICEF, UNAIDS, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM.)

Here’s a look at what we got up to;

Sunday – this was the first day of our trip. We all met at the train station and then travelled to Manchester where we would get a flight to Geneva. When we arrived, we visited the hostel where we would be staying and soon settled in.

Monday – the second day of the trip saw us head off to the UN for our first day of meetings. When we arrived, we were given a guided tour around the Palais Des Nations where we learnt about the UN work in Geneva and stood in the chambers where more than 8,000 meetings take place every year. In the afternoon we had lunch at the very busy UN canteen, and then went on another tour this time to the League of Nations Museum where an original copy of the Treaty of Versailles is stored. In the evening we had a walk along Lake Geneva, known locally as Lac Leman into the old town.

Tuesday – Day three saw the delegation attend meetings with the UN Development Programme, the UN Human Rights Council, and the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. We found these meetings very fascinating and it gave us lots of food for thought about just how unique the UN really is. In the evening, Tom, one of the students from Hagley School briefed us on the work of CERN which proved to be a very fascinating discussion.

Wednesday – On Wednesday, our day was shortened due to our visit to CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. As the world’s particle physics laboratory, we felt very lucky to have secured this exclusive guide of CERN. The day was complimented by meetings with the Wood Food Programme and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS.

Thursday – Thursday was our final day at the UN in Geneva. In the morning, we had our last meeting with the Economic Commission for Europe who shape economic framework and policy for Europe, and in the afternoon we embarked on a cable car journey up to Mont-Salève where we looked down over Geneva.

Friday – Friday soon came around, and saw us heading back to Geneva Airport where we got our plane back to the UK. Before we left Switzerland, we made sure to call at the chocolatier where we bought a gift for our trip leader, Michael Conroy-Harris and purchased some edible souvenirs for our family and friends. After eight hours of travelling, we finally reached Kidderminster and got off the coach, taking with us the memories that we had made, as well as our luggage and souvenirs!

We think that the trip made you realise what happens around the world and how the UN and its departments cope with suffering and bring aid to the less fortunate in each situation. This trip has got to be the most eye-opening trip we have been on. Being able to go to Geneva was an honour within itself, but to be able to meet with the UN correspondents and visit other places around Geneva was a real pleasure. From the trip, we were really able to understand the different levels of emergencies and poverty around the world and the plans that the UN has for the future to change these situations. We feel that this trip has allowed us to get in touch with our ‘humanitarian’ side and begin to understand just how fortunate we are. Meeting with UNICEF has reminded us of the importance of working for children and families on a local, national and global level, and we hope to be part of this by continuing to volunteer in our community in the future.

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