Students discuss UN issues in ambassadors' chairs.

• Position: UN International Student Conference, Mar 3-4, 1994 at NY headquarters

The meeting that took place on 3 and 4 March in the vast General Assembly Hall of the United Nations looked like a typical UN event: Hundreds of "ambassadors" from different nations milled about, looking for their seats, chatting with delegates from neighbouring countries, and sifting through position papers.

Of course, most ambassadors don't shout out such things as: "I want Zambia. That's a cool country!" And, most of them aren't under 18 years of age.

The two-day United Nations International School (UNIS) Student Conference brought together approximately 500 high school students from around the world to discuss the central theme, "International Responsibility: Power and Politics". Consisting of four panels, the meeting addressed the political, economic and social aspects of responsibility, as well as the role of Governments and the UN in finding solutions to international conflicts.

"People, as well as Governments, must become committed to thinking internationally", said James Hoge, Editor of Foreign Affairs, as he addressed the first session on the nature of UN peacekeeping missions, development, population growth and human rights.

Speaking on the situation in the former Yugoslavia, Bosnian Ambassador Muhammed Sacirbey said that using labels like genocide, civil war or ethnic strife was the international community's way of accepting different levels of responsibility. "The manipulation of labels is one of the most direct threats to the New World Order", he said. "When we talk about intervention, we must free ourselves of labels."

During a panel...