Canterbury School Model U.N. (CSMUN) welcomed Mr. Sergei Kambalov to speak at the School this Wednesday evening, October 10. While he retired from the United Nations in 2010, Ambassador Kambalov worked as the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development and had previously served in the World Economic and Social Survey. Prior to joining the UN in 1989, he was a First Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. and worked in academic research on international economic relations. He and his wife Elena currently live in Middlebury, Connecticut.
During his presentation, Mr. Kambalov addressed the structure and workings of the United Nations as it exists in today's world and engaged in a Q&A session with the many students attendees.
"In this increasingly globalized world, awareness and education are what will allow young people to grow up to be active citizens, and that is what we seek to cultivate in the Model UN," noted Sabrina Capodicci '20, the Secretary General of CSMUN who helped to organize the evening's event. "In this increasingly globalized world, awareness and education are what will allow young people to grow up to be active citizens, and that is what we seek to cultivate in the Model U.N."
Jeff Johnson, Chair of the History Department and one of the faculty advisors to CSMUN, remarked how Mr. Kambalov addressed issues of pertinence to our students, issues that our community grapples with each day both in the history classroom and in passing discourse. "The topics that Mr. Kambalov addressed are real and very relevant to our students who may, from time to time, wonder why writing and studying history matters," remarked Jeff. "Our speaker humanized terms and topics that we discuss in class and connected moral authority to global leadership — all very relevant topics when we discuss today's world in class."
"Students who attended this event got an even deeper and more meaningful look into what the UN means to the world and how it represents the nature of international politics today," concluded Sabrina. "I was glad to see so many students engaged in the presentation and asking thoughtful questions."
To learn more about CSMUN, please contact Jeff Johnson directly at jjohnson@cbury.org