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Four Global Kids Youth Selected to Participate in United Nations High Level Summit on Climate Change

New York, NY, September 22, 2009 - Four students from Global Kids - the premiere non-profit organization in New York City that teaches underserved high school students about international issues and civic engagement - are among only 13 youth delegates selected to attend the Secretary General High Level Summit on Climate Change at the United Nations.

The 13 youth delegates, selected by UNICEF, participated in the opening and closing sessions of the High Level Summit on Climate Change, which brought together nearly 100 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and the heads of state of Costa Rica, Japan, the Maldives, Rwanda, Sweden and other countries. The goal of the summit is to focus higher-level political attention on the need for accelerated action on climate change, in preparation for the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The four Global Kids students are:

• Aisha Abdelmula -- Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment (Brooklyn)
• Noni Fernandez -- High School for Global Citizenship (Brooklyn)
  
• Shantanu Roy -- Newcomers High School (Queens)
• Gabriel Wahab -- School for International Studies (Brooklyn)

The youth delegates greeted world leaders outside of the Secretariat, and presented them with a collection of personal narratives describing work they have done to address climate change, and the urgent need to act on the issue. During the opening ceremony, four students, including Global Kids' Noni Fernandez, narrated a film they produced collaboratively with UNICEF on climate change solutions. At the Summit's closing ceremony, Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon responded directly to the students' call for action.

In addition, five of the youth delegates have been chosen to attend the First Spouses Luncheon on Climate Change on September 23. At the luncheon, Global Kids student Gabriel Wahab will speak to the first spouses about youth activism around climate change, and the importance of mobilizing action worldwide.

To read a UNICEF Press Release about the event, please click here.