With half the world's population under age 25, "We must acknowledge the power of youth and integrate them into everything that we do, with an eye always on the future," said Yvonne Acosta, chief of education outreach at the United Nations' Department of Public Information April 15 in Statler Auditorium.

"We need young people to bring the spirit, the energy, the passion of youth to issues facing the world," said Acosta, the keynote speaker for the ninth annual Cornell Model U.N. Conference's opening ceremony. The conference, April 15-18, is hosted by the Cornell International Affairs Society and organized by a staff of 80 Cornell students.

Nearly 500 high school students from 27 schools in places as far away as South Africa, Hong Kong, India and Nigeria are in attendance.

The conference simulates topically and geographically diverse U.N. committees, with General Assembly committees as large as 100 students and specialized and crisis committees as small as 25 students. This year's committees included International Criminal Court, a Cold War Historical Simulation and the Middle East Peace Summit.

The U.N. views the model U.N. program "as a very important educational outreach tool to young people that is complementary to the world we live in," Acosta said. By learning about the U.N. through such simulations as Cornell's, the students are "becoming global citizens, becoming aware and active in learning about and promoting international issues."

She added: "You have the power to effect positive change," whether as an advocate, activist or with "your tech-savvy skills and your excellent educational opportunities."

Secretary-General Brian Cannon '10, an economics major, noted that one goal of this year's conference "was to diversify the committee offerings." The secretariat succeeded in nearly doubling the number of committees from last year, he said.

Conference staff members, who come "from a wide variety of academic backgrounds," invite the high school students to "pick their brains," Cannon said, adding that some committees also invite professors to talk to the students and share their research experience.

The staff not only actively debate with the high school students, but also "guide them, to make sure their debates go well and they stay on track," said Michael Cretz '11, an economics and government major and chair of the Middle East Peace Summit committee.

The conference gives high school students the opportunity "to learn about different issues in international politics in the past and present, and the process of the U.N. and how it works," said Elizabeth Rust '12, an English and linguistics major and chair of the Cold War Historical Simulation committee. It also gives the high school students the chance "to learn what it's like to be on a college campus," noting that conference staff offered a panel on college life and academics.

Joseph Mansky '12 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.