“Youth Needed At The UN”

A UC electrical and global humanitarian engineering student is on a mission to bring New Zealand youth to the United Nations (UN).

Leonardo Bolstad, who is studying a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Diploma of Global Humanitarian Engineering at Te Whare Wananga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, attended the recent Economical and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum at the UN headquarters.

Raised in New Zealand, Japan and France, Bolstad has an international outlook, an affinity for working with cultural differences and a passion for renewable energy solutions that can solve challenges in the developing world.

Chosen from 6000 applicants, he was the only Kiwi amongst the 500 youth delegates at ECOSOC. Bolstad attended independently, while Aotearoa New Zealand’s official seat remained empty.

“So that's quite a concern for me and it’s something I want to change because we do not currently have official youth representation,” Bolstad says.

“I do feel as if people don't realise the potential of this because we're at the edge of the world. But we are not actually that removed, we have seats at important UN Councils which can bring actual change internationally and domestically.”

New Zealand’s chair at ECOSOC extends to next year - one of only 54 UN member states to have a chair – and Bolstad doesn’t want us to miss out on this valuable opportunity. “Youth participants will benefit from the experience of attending and networking with other youth leaders. And New Zealand would benefit from setting a national agenda and priorities for the forum by discussing the issues most important to youth at a national level first.”

Having attended the National Model United Nations in Germany last year - as part of a Japanese team after a friend alerted him to the opportunity - Bolstad was well prepared for ECOSOC and made the most of his time at the UN. He attended the plenary discussions and side events, including one about organising youth delegations at the EU delegation, and soaked up the atmosphere of the UN.

“Just across the hall, there were discussions at the Security Council about important global conflicts, and I was able to talk to some of those delegates as well.”

Bolstad organised meetings with both the Japan Permanent Mission and New Zealand Permanent Mission to the UN and was asked to submit a report by the latter arguing the benefits of sending an official youth delegation, which he will also share with New Zealand’s Minister for Youth.

Back in New Zealand, Bolstad also arranged a meeting with Karim Dickie, President of the New Zealand UN Association, to discuss establishing a youth delegation. He also shared his recent success in securing funding from the Inspire Foundation to build a delegation for the National Model United Nations at the UN Headquarters next April, aiming to collaborate with youth throughout Aotearoa.

“If I can help with making a youth delegation happen, that's enough for me because I can use my experience to bring something positive to the country. It doesn’t have to be me who attends, but someone should have the opportunity to represent what New Zealand’s youth has to say, and I just hope I can inspire the next youth delegate – that they look at me and think ‘I could do that too’.”

Looking to reconnect with his Kiwi roots by studying in Aotearoa, Bolstad found excellent mentors in UC’s Faculty of Engineering including Associate Professor Christopher Hann and Dean of Engineering Professor Saurabh Sinha. Professor Sinha is an active member and leader of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organisation, and helped Bolstad organise a visit to the organisation’s headquarters during his stay in New York.

“They [Dr Hann and Professor Sinha] are the kind of professors who are just so knowledgeable and have a passion to help students out,” Bolstad says. “Their welcoming and encouraging attitude to students has helped me find my place in New Zealand, far away from my childhood home in Kyoto.”

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