Washington, DC, 8 February 2023 – Florida International University (FIU), one of the largest public universities in the United States, is also the country’s largest Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). With its mandate to educate and inform the American people about the work of the United Nations, the United Nations Information Center in Washington has been deepening its links with FIU.
For example, on 24 January, Selwin Hart, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Climate Action and Assistant Secretary-General of the Climate Action Team, visited FIU’s campus in Miami, where he briefed students on the United Nations’ climate priorities and encouraged them to mobilize and use their voices to demand urgent climate action. He also heard from students and faculty about issues facing Latin America and the Caribbean, climate justice and youth activism.
Two days later, on 26 January, the Deputy Director of the United Nations Information Center in Washington, Brenden Varma, addressed visiting FIU students at FIU’s outpost in the District of Columbia. The students, who came from all over the Americas, were briefed on the work of the United Nations in the areas of political affairs, human rights, gender equality and communications, and asked questions about such wide-ranging topics as global politics, disinformation, peacebuilding and the relationship between spokespeople and journalists.
On 7 February, the United Nations Information Center in Washington and the Organization of American States (OAS) joined forces for their first ever academic outreach activity. Together, Brenden Varma and the Director of the OAS Press and Communications Department, Gonzalo Espáriz, briefed visiting FIU students at the United Nations Information Center’s premises in Washington on how their respective organizations engaged with Latin America and the Caribbean. On the United Nations’ side, the focus was on entities and missions, including the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, as well as the role played by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States at the United Nations. Both briefers highlighted collaboration between the United Nations and regional organizations such as the OAS, and students asked questions on such topics as the protection and promotion of democracy, elections, capacity building and indigenous issues.
