Page 8 - FerMUN 2020 - Futurecasters Global Young Visionaries Summit, 8th-10th January 2020

Welcome letter

Dear participants,

Now, perhaps more than ever before, it is impossible to deny that young people have a
meaningful role to play in international politics. Not tomorrow, not the day after: today, we
have a voice.

This is what makes programmes like FerMUN so important. Over the next few days, each of our
delegates will be faced with difficult, complex real-life problems, and told to solve them
through negotiation and consensus. This is an incredibly difficult task. We probably won't
succeed. But, in that sense, we are not so different from the career diplomats and government

officials who meet at real UN assemblies. We may not handle them with the same expertise,
but for the next three days, we will face the same tensions, disagreements, technical
challenges, and misunderstandings as real UN delegates do. This hands-on experience is not

only the best way to learn; it's also the best way to gain confidence and develop your own
ideas. FerMUN allows young people to say: these are my problems too; I understand what is at
stake, and I have something to contribute.

This year, our committees revolve around the relationship between technology and
development. More specifically, how can Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

help us achieve the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030? This is a complex
and extremely topical question, and in order to answer it as fully as possible, we have
introduced two Youth Assembly committees. Rather than representing a country assigned at

random, the delegates in these committees will represent the youth in their own country of
residence, and come away with concrete plans and pledges for future actions in their
communities. We may not solve every issue we tackle, but FerMUN 2020 will be one step
forward, multiplied by 700 participants, 53 schools, 24 countries.

That is why we are proud to welcome you to the 10th edition of FerMUN, from Wednesday,

January 8th, to Friday, January 10th, in the conference rooms of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). We give our sincere thanks to ITU for their guidance and
contributions, without which this conference would not be possible. We would also like to thank

each of you, as participants, for your indispensable contributions.

Admins, we thank you for your hard work and focus, without which a conference at this scale

could never be organised. Translators and interpreters, we depend on your efficiency and
competence to break down the language barrier and make sure everyone attending this
conference is able to participate fully. Members of the press, we recognise how essential it is
that our conference reaches a wider audience, and we are looking forward to seeing the

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