Voices of Youth

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) initiated the United Nations programs called "UNITE against AIDS" as part of the Millenium Development Goals for 2015. Its main goals include reducing the adult population infected with HIv/AIDS and eliminating the number of children infected with AIDS, both within five years.

At the General Assembly in early June, world leaders adopted the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS to prevent HIV/AIDS infection in populations at greater risk. Furthermore, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claims that HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest vulnerabilities among the MDG goals and therefore urged the United Nations to release an annual report on the state of HIV infection. I believe the United Nations should not only take initiative to prevent and reduce HIV/AIDS but also raise awareness among humans about this problem.

A Modern Day hero is someone who can stand up for his or her moral beliefs and continuously proceed to attain that goal. A great example of the hero is Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the current secretary-general of the United Nations, who was recently relected to serve another term. His focus during the past three years has not only been geared toward accomplishing Millenium Goals such as literacy and women's rights, but also implementing the Junior Profession Officer (JPO) program.

This program gives college-graduates (once they are selected) all around the world an opportunity to work at the United Nations. The secretary-general endorsed this program since his inauguration to provide youth the opportunity to contribute to solving and analyzing world problems. He recognized the need for youth to interact and communicate with all generations and helped implement this program within the United Nations. This is why he can be considered a great modern hero who can connect with future leaders of the world.

Photo: © UNICEF/NYHQ2010-1925/David Berkwitz United Nations Headquarters, 2010 On 22 September, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the panel discussion ‘Addressing the Global Water and Sanitation Challenge’, at UNHQ.

The Japanese Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of Irvine high schools each hosted a bake sale at lunch time in early April to raise funds for the Japanese relief effort. The sale was held in Irvine High School, Woodbridge High School and University High School. “We paired up with Team Kids, a non-profit community organization in Irvine, because they are well-known for their lemonade stand,” said Hiroko Kondo, co-President of the Woodbridge High Japanese PTA. “We sold baked goods-either home-made or store bought-that were provided by Woodbridge High School and other community organizations.” The Japanese PTA got the inspiration for a bake sale after hearing the tragic news of the high number of casualties in Japan. “We wanted to do it when this crisis was fresh on the minds of everyone,” Kondo said. All proceeds will go to American Red Cross, which will transfer the donations to the Miyagi Prefecture’s Department of Education in Japan. “We chose to donate to Miyagi Prefecture because it had the most casualties in Japan,” said Miwa Sassone, co-President of the Woodbridge High Japanese PTA. “We wanted to help the area that was most devastated.” On the last day of the bake sale, Japanese students at Irvine High sold baked goods in the quad to assist the relief effort. Japanese-American Irene Sassone says she was grateful at the chance to help stabilize her home country: “It’s important that the profits are going toward education because students need to learn in order to rebuild their country. We earned quite a lot of money!”