UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has restated his call that the world needed the energy, courage, and commitment of the youth to ensure a transformative change.

Guterres made the call on Thursday in his message delivered by Mr. Ronald Kayanja, Director, United Nations Information Center (UNIC) at the third Lagos Secondary Schools Model United Nations (LASSMUN) conference in Lagos.

He said a central element of inclusivity was ensuring young people fully participate in designing the world’s shared future, leading to a stronger transformative change.

Guterres explained that the world needed the energy, courage, and commitment of youths, adding that he drew hope from seeing the present generation of youths challenge the status quo.

“Humanity has shown time and again that we are capable of great things when we work together beyond governments and across geographies and generations.

“To do so, we need a more inclusive and networked multilateralism.

“That is why the UN has launched a new initiative ‘our common agenda’ which includes more than 90 recommendations and proposals, based on a 360-degree analysis of the state of the world,” he said.

The conference themed: ‘Combating Climate Change and its impact – The role of young people, had in attendance 196 delegates from the six education districts in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that Model United Nations (MUN) is a simulation of how the UN works, particularly how decisions are reached by its key organs, including the General Assembly.

It also promotes cultural diversity and a culture of peace while highlighting the importance of cooperation across cultures, political divides, and geographical regions.

Mrs. Oludara Okelola, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, Education District VI, explained that the program couldn’t have come at a better time considering the effects of climate change on global growth and development.

“Our youths, being change agents are important stakeholders and therefore, must be involved in this serious issue of climate change.

“Climate change requires global efforts to surmount it.

“We believe that as future Leaders, their participation in these matters is critical as they are deliberately being enlisted and groomed through education, science, technology, and all-round positive attitudes for a better world,” she said.

Also, Amoo Ahmod, President of the 3rd session, LASSMUN General Assembly, urged delegates to make the conference the starting point of a new era of achieving long-term climate goals.

Ahmod, a student of Lagos Baptist Senior College, Agege, stated that since climate change started, it had not taken time off, but further causing devastation and disruption to lives and livelihood across the world.

“We would scale up technological innovation and scientific imagination to begin the work of repairing the future right now .

“Let’s get set to work and cooperate with multilateral institutions such as the UN and other stakeholders to amplify our collective strength, speed, and progress toward dealing with global challenges,” he said.

In her remarks, Ms. Titilayo Solarin, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary Education District I, said the student delegates were ready to face challenges of the future.

She noted that they already had answers to problems being faced globally, judging from how they handled activities at the conference.

“I urge our government to give students platforms to express their opinions because they carry valuable gems in them,” she said.