United Nations Youth Association of Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United Nations Youth Association of Australia (UNYA) is one of Australia's largest youth organisations, and is part of the global network of United Nations Youth Associations. UNYA is an independent branch of the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA). UNYA is a not-for-profit community organisation run entirely by volunteer young people (aged 24 and under).
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[edit] Structure of UNYA
Established approximately forty years ago, UNYA has developed into a multi-faceted organisation that works at a number of levels. The national structure of UNYA comprises eight semi-autonomous divisions: that is, one for each State or Territory represented in Parliament. Divisions meet twice a year with the National Executive in sessions of National Council.
At a national level, UNYA is represented by a National Executive and various national office bearers.
Divisions are subject to motions adopted by the National Council of divisional representatives bi-annually, but are otherwise independent in their structure. For instance, the Tasmanian division of UNYA is guaranteed as an independent part of the UNAA and the Tasmania University Union, whereas other divisions do not involve student union activity.
[edit] Aims of UNYA
While the aims of UNYA are that of conventional UN Associations in advocating the United Nations Charter and educating young people about the United Nations structure and functions, it also remains committed to the task of advocating the role of young people in domestic affairs.
[edit] Activities of UNYA
UNYA holds two annual multi-divisional events: the United Nations Youth Conference (UNYC) and the United Nations Security Council Competition: Evatt Trophy, named after Dr H.V. Evatt. These two events are significant national conferences, and attract a great deal of community support and attention. Both conferences are held in Australian capital cities designated on a rotational and bid based system.
Other multi-divisional events (for example, the Regional Youth Summit 2005) are held on an ad hoc basis.
Significant conferences typically take the form of a youth summit combining educational workshops and speakers, issue based discussion and policy drafting and mock United Nations committee or assembly debate, as is common in Model United Nations.
Divisional bodies of UNYA also coordinate significant events in their State or Territory, such as annual State Conferences and Security Council competitions. Similarly, educative and participatory youth events, such as speakers forums during the 2004 Australian election, have been convened by divisional bodies.
UNYA is the only youth-run organisation on the National Representative Council of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition, and consults with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on a number of different concerns, including human rights. Further, the United Nations Youth Association (UNYA) is responsible for nominating a Youth Representatives to the United Nations General Assembly and has also sent two representatives to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as part of Australia's delegation.
