Ghana’s delegation to this year’s Model United Nations Session have paid courtesy call on former Ambassador to the United Nations, H.E. Ken Kanda in New York.

The 35-member delegation took part in the Global Classrooms Model UN conference which saw an impressive participation by some 1,600 middle school students from different parts of the globe.

The annual event allows young diplomats to mock their adult counterparts in discussing wide-range of pertinent global issues including conflict prevention, global warming and global security.

The delegation won six awards.  Arnold Gyarteng (SOS-Herman Gmeiner School), Charles Gyan Mensah (Cradle Grace Montessori School), Zak Morny (Jesus Anna Mary School.), Awo Baaba Impraim (Queensland Sch.), Alicia Acquah (Queensland Sch.) and Nuna Dudzi Senaya (SOS-Herman Gmeiner School) received awards for Honorable Mention and for being an Outstanding Delegation.

Ambassador Ken Kanda who served two terms as Ghana’s permanent representative at the United Nations and head of the Ghana UN Mission, shared fond memories of his diplomatic carrier with the pupils and responded to various questions from them, many of which focused on how someone could become a diplomat or work for the United Nations.

While in the U.S, the students toured some educational and recreational facilities in New York including the Statue of Liberty and also spent a school day at the Booker T. Washington School.

Ghana’s UN Mission in New York also facilitated a visit to the forecourt of the United Nations Plaza to witness the inauguration of a memorial for the transatlantic slave trade. The Ghanaian students had the rare opportunity of seeing the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon who was in attendance.

The Executive Director of Life Link Friendship Schools – Ghana, Mr Ernest Gyimah Danquah was grateful to the embassy of the United States of America in Ghana for their continued support for the programme over the last decade and a half.

He said through the programme, many Ghanaian students have been exposed to the workings of international bodies such as the UN, ECOWAS and the AU as they strive to attain global peace and security on daily basis.

The Programs Director for Life-Link Ghana, Dennis K. A. Penu, re-iterated the organization’s commitment to develop leadership through the Model UN platform for students at all educational levels and hinted that a new international Model UN program will be launched in the 2015 / 2016 academic year.

 The delegation has since returned to Ghana.