After the UN Day English Speech Contest and UN Career Fair 2015 were held successfully attracting some 2,500 visitors, UNESCAP has replenished the UN-ROK website to share with you our happy memories of the day. We are pleased to share with you our newly made 10-minute UN Day video that captures the day's highlights. We've put a lot of work into the video production, and we hope you enjoy the video.
The UN Career Fair 2015 was jointly hosted by UN offices and international organizations located in ROK to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN by engaging the student community. It provided a number of lectures given by the heads of UN offices on a wide range of topics, including refugees (UNHCR), the zero hunger challenge (WFP) and forced migration (IOM). The programme included a press conference style session in which a four-person panel made up of current UN staff talked to the students about their experience of working at the UN and participated in an engaging discussion.
The career fair attracted some 2,500 young people not only from the surrounding Seoul but also from other regions of the country and abroad, eager to learn more about the UN and explore career opportunities in the UN system. This kind of information is not easily accessible to a lot of young people in Korea.
A student told the ENEA Office about his experience that day: “I’ve come to realize that there are many people around the world working behind the scenes to make the world a better place.”
Participating Organizations
UN Offices
ROK Government
Other
Sponsors
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Environment
- Incheon Metropolitan City
- Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education
- UN Academic Impact Korea
Photos
Booth Activities
Special Lectures by UN organizations
24 October 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN. The UN Day English Speech Contest 2015 was organized by UN Offices located in the Republic of Korea to commemorate the special occasion. The event was open to high school and university students of all nationalities studying in the country, and it served a platform for the young people to share their thoughts about the past, present and future of UN. The aim of the speech contest was not to simply assess the young people’s English proficiency, but to give them an opportunity to speak out their original thoughts and innovative ideas with regards to the progress being made on UN’s priorities and the way forward for the UN.
The speech contest had a preliminary round, which involved having the applicants submit the video recording of their speeches on a given topic in the month of September. Out of some 150 preliminary entries, a reviewing committee made up of UN staff selected 35 high school and 10 university students after a rigorous evaluation process.
On Thursday, 22 October, the UN Day English Speech Contest Final was held at the G-Tower in Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea. The finalists spoke about a world issue they chose, such as the current refugee crisis, migration, the issue of child labor embedded in a chocolate bar they so easily consume, climate change and sustainable development, and presented how the UN should respond to those problems. The heads of UN offices who evaluated their speeches as judges, including ENEA Office Director Kilaparti Ramakrishna, were amazed by the depth of their knowledge and the amount of research and practice they had put into their speeches, and congratulated them on their outstanding performance and achievements.
Scoring Rubric
| Preliminary | Score (Weight) | Final | Score (Weight) |
| Relevance to the Topic: Clarity of ideas & presentation | 20 | Message : Clear, persuasive, and meaningful message | 25 |
| Content: Creativity, logical reasoning | 40 | Content & Facts: Substantiation of the message with relevant facts and accurate information | 25 |
| Content: Creativity, logical reasoning | 30 | Style & Language: Concise and persuasive linguistic style, flow and grammar | 25 |
| Language: Rich vocabulary, grammar, etc. | 10 | Delivery: Effective delivery of the speech | 25 |
- High School Segment
- Kilaparti Ramakrishna, Director, UNESCAP-ENEA
- Miah MiHyung Park, Head of Office, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
- Sang Mi Lee, Public Partnerships Specialist, UNICEF
- Andrew McElroy, Public Information Officer, UNISDR
- College Segment
- Dirk Hebecker, Representative, UNHCR Seoul
- Anne Marie Sloth Carlsen, Director, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre
- Joao Ribeiro, Head of Office, UNCITRAL-RCAP
1. High School Segment
| Award | Recipient | School | |
| Ban Ki-moon Award | Sojung LEE | Seoul Guahm High School | |
| Eunyoung SONG | Kongju National University High School | ||
| Runners-up | Incheon Mayor’s Awards | Hanseul CHO | Hana Academy Seoul |
| Environment Minister’s Awards | Ye Rin BOO | Daeil Foreign Languages High School | |
| Foreign Minister’s Awards | Gayoung LEE | Cheongshim International Academy | |
2. College Segment
| Award | Recipient | School | |
| Ban Ki-moon Award | Seungbeom RYU | Ajou University | |
| Jeesoo LIM | Yonsei University | ||
| Runners-up | Incheon Mayor’s Awards | Daniel FOULKES | Hannam University |
| Environment Minister’s Awards | Namkyu GO | Yonsei University | |
| Foreign Minister’s Awards | Soeun PARK | Korea University | |
Photos
High School
College
Our sincere appreciation goes to all the UN offices and international organizations that made the two UN Day events possible as well as all the students and job seekers who came from around the nation and abroad to attend the two events. You truly made our UN Day celebrations very special this year, and we hope it was a meaningful time for all of you as well.
Special Lectures on UN Organizations & Careers
Please check out our participant photo submissions! Click on photo to expand.
