Student Essay Contest and Global Youth Forum - Many Languages, One World, 25-31 July 2016, USA

Share your ideas and be heard… perhaps even in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations!

60 Students will be selected as delegates to the 2016 United Nations Academic Impact Global Youth Forum, 25-31 July, 2016, where they will create action plans related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The students will present these action plans at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Airfare, Room and Meals will be provided by ELS Educational Services, Inc.

To Participate:

Write an original essay (2,000 words or less) discussing global citizenship and cultural understanding and the role that multilingual ability can play in fostering these. The essay should reflect your personal, academic, cultural and national context. Essays must be written in an official language of the United Nations that is not your first language or primary language of instruction during your primary or secondary education. The official United Nations languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. You will need to demonstrate both written and verbal competency in the language of the essay. You must be a full-time university student, recommended and endorsed by a Faculty Member or University Representative, and must be 18 years of age or older by the contest deadline.

Essay Submission Deadline: Thursday, 31 March, 2016 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Contest Rules

The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), in collaboration with ELS Educational Services, Inc., (ELS) invites students, 18 years and older, who are enrolled in a full-time course of study at a college or university, to participate in the Many Languages, One World Essay Contest (ManyLanguagesOneWorld.ELS.edu).

ESSAY TOPIC: The essay should discuss global citizenship and cultural understanding and the role that multilingual ability can play in fostering these. The essay should reflect the student’s personal, academic, cultural and national context.

Entries, of up to 2,000 words in length must be written in an official language of the United Nations that is not the first language of the Entrant or the principal language of instruction during his or her primary or secondary education. The official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

A Faculty Member or other Authorized Representative of the institution is required to complete a Reference Form attesting that the Entrant is a current full-time student of the institution in good standing, that the essay is written in a language that is not the Entrant’s first language or the principal language of instruction during the Entrant’s primary or secondary education, and that the entry is the Entrant's original, unaided work. Entries must be uploaded in MS Word format to the website ManyLanguagesOneWorld.ELS.edu by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, 31 March, 2016.

A total of 60 contest Winners will be selected through a rigorous three-stage process. Ten winners will be selected from Entrants in each of the 6 official United Nations languages. These Winners will be invited to New York to participate in a series of events during the week of July 25-31, 2016. These events will include a Global Youth Forum on “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in the context of multilingualism, cultural diversity and global citizenship at United Nations Headquarters, preceded by a preparatory conference sponsored and arranged by ELS Educational Services, Inc.

During the preparatory conference, Winners will work with their language group to prepare plans of action which could be undertaken by student and local communities towards the realization of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These plans will be presented at the Global Youth Forum at United Nations Headquarters. Please note that Winners will not be reading or presenting the text of their essays at this event.

ELS will pay for roundtrip economy class airfares in carriers of its choosing between the airport nearest to the Winners’ home city and New York, and be responsible for the Winners’ travel, room and meals for the duration of the conference (6-7 days). Sightseeing and tourism opportunities will also be arranged by ELS. No extensions of stay or early arrivals will be possible. Winners are responsible for all documentation relating to their journey, including passports and visas and the costs related to these, as well as appropriate medical insurance for their journey and temporary stay in the United States. ELS will provide each winning student with a basic travel and accident insurance policy, for which the premium will be paid by ELS.

All Winners attending the conference will be given certificates of participation by ELS, signifying they have participated in the Global Youth Forum arranged in cooperation with the United Nations Academic Impact.

As a condition of participation, Winners will agree to waive liability for both ELS and the United Nations specifying they understand that ELS is the organizer and they agree to hold both ELS and the United Nations harmless for any injury or liability which might occur during the conference or at the United Nations.

On the Student Entry Form, participants will have to acknowledge that they have read, understood and agree to accept the Indemnification, Limitation of Liability and Release statements below:

INDEMNIFICATION AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By entering the contest, each entrant agrees to indemnify, release and hold harmless ELS educational services, Inc., the United Nations and all of their respective parent, affiliate and subsidiary companies, administrators, officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents (collectively, the “RELEASEES”), from any liability, damages, losses or injury of any kind resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from that entrant’s participation in the contest, including but not limited to, property damage, personal injury or death which may result from or occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to and/or participation in the contest or from the acceptance, possession, or use or misuse of any prize awarded or participation in any prize-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy and prize delivery. RELEASEES do not make any warranties, express or implied, as to the condition, fitness or merchantability of any prize. RELEASEES disclaim any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from access to or the download of information or materials connected with the contest.

For the avoidance of doubt, this limitation of liability is a comprehensive limitation of liability that applies to all damages of any kind, including (without limitation) compensatory, direct, indirect, or consequential damages; loss of data, income, or profit; loss or damage to property; and claims of third parties. Entrants agree that RELEASEES have not made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, statutory, express or implied (including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, title, and fitness for a particular purpose), in fact or in law, relative to the contest or the prize awarded. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, RELEASEES do not make any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to any promotional website and RELEASEES shall not be liable for the consequences of any interruptions or errors related thereto.

RELEASEES are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, illegible, inaccurate, delayed, garbled, damaged, stolen or misdirected submissions, or problems of any kind, whether mechanical, human or electronic. RELEASEES are not responsible for technical, hardware or software malfunctions, telephone failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, inability to access a website, inability to submit an entry, or fraud, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions or inaccurate transcription of entry information, whether caused by RELEASEES, users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the contest or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of submissions which may damage a user’s system or limit an entrant’s ability to participate in the contest. Releases are not responsible for late, lost, incomplete, illegible, damaged or misdirected entries or mail.

INFORMATION RELEASE

I understand that while I retain the rights to my essay, by participating in Many Languages, One World Global Youth Forum, I grant ELS and the UN (“RELEASEES”) a worldwide, exclusive, royalty-free, and irrevocable license to use the content of the essays in whole or in part. In addition, I grant ELS permission to photograph, record, and videotape all activities during the conference. These recordings and photographs will become the property of ELS for didactic use at their discretion, in all media, in perpetuity, to promote multilingualism and global understanding. I also grant the United Nations permission to photograph, record, and videotape all activities during the conference. These recordings and photographs will become the property of the United Nations.

For the avoidance of doubt, I hereby irrevocably grant RELEASEES perpetually, exclusively, for all media throughout the world (including, but not limited to, print, non-theatrical, audio, video, film, CD, Internet and any other electronic medium presently in existence or invented in the future), the right to use and incorporate (alone or together with other materials), in whole or in part, recordings, photographs, and/or images made of me or submitted by me to RELEASEES, my name, voice or likeness (“Image”), in written, audio, video or still photography format, in television advertising, radio advertising, press advertising, promotional material, and any and all internal documents, including but not limited to annual reports, public relations displays and other publications, including website publications, without payment or any other consideration. I acknowledge RELEASEES’ right to discontinue use of my Image without notice and/or to edit or treat my Image at its discretion. I also acknowledge that RELEASEES may choose not to use my Image at this time, but may do so at its own discretion at a later date.

I hereby agree that I will not bring or consent to others bringing claim or action against RELEASEES on the grounds that my Image, or the manner in which my Image is/are used, is defamatory, reflects adversely on me, violates any other right whatsoever, including, without limitation, rights of privacy and publicity.

I hereby release RELEASEES from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, causes of action, suits, costs, expenses, liabilities and damages (“Claims”) whatsoever that I may hereafter have against any or all of them in connection with my Image.

How to Enter

Essay Topic:

Write an original essay (2,000 words or less) discussing global citizenship and cultural understanding and the role that multilingual ability can play in fostering these. The essay should reflect your personal, academic, cultural and national context. The essay must be written in an official language of the United Nations that is not your first language or the principal language of instruction during your primary or secondary education. The official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The essay must be your own, unaided work. For complete contest rules and information on how to enter, please visit Contest Rules and Frequently Asked Questions.

Eligibility Guidelines

1. Full-time college or university students, 18 years of age or older by 31 March 2016, can participate in the contest.
2. A University Faculty Member or Authorized Representative must recommend you for participation in the contest by completing the form under the tab: Faculty Member/University Administrator Reference Form. The university representative must attest that you are a full time student in good standing and that you are submitting an essay in an official language of the United Nations that is not your first language or principal language of instruction in your primary or secondary education. S/He must also attest that the essay you are submitting is your own, unaided work.
3. Functional knowledge of English is required for participation in the preparatory conference.

Entry Process

1. Write your essay according to the contest rules and eligibility guidelines.
2. Share your essay with the University Faculty Member or Authorized Representative who recommended you so that s/he can attest to the fact that you have followed the contest rules.
3. Have that Faculty Member or University Administrator complete the Faculty Member/University Administrator Reference Form in support of your participation in the contest.
4. After the Faculty Reference form is submitted, the Faculty Member will receive an email from Many Languages, One World requesting confirmation of the reference.
5. Make sure that your Faculty member looks for this email and clicks on the confirmation link. They may need to check their spam or junk mail folder. If your Faculty member does not confirm their recommendation, you will not be able to submit an entry.
6. Once the Reference Form has been received and confirmed by Many Languages, One World, you will receive an email with further information, and a link where you can complete your Student Entry Form and upload your essay to the contest website.
7. The Student Entry Form must be completed in its entirety, and in English. If your entry form is incomplete, you will be disqualified. Be sure to include your government-issued identity card number or passport number, and submit your full name as it appears on your official documents or passport. Do not submit your photo.
8. At the bottom of the Student Entry form you will find the link to upload your essay to the contest website.
9. The essay must be submitted/uploaded in MS WORD format. Please title your essay as follows:LastName_FirstName-LanguageofEssay (ie, Smith_Jane-Arabic). Do not include a cover page with personal information, as the essays will be evaluated anonymously.
10. Only essays submitted through this link will be accepted. You can only submit one essay.
11. Essays must be received by 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on Thursday 31 March, 2016 in order to qualify. Do not wait until the deadline date to submit. Give yourself time to ensure that your essay will be received successfully.

Please Note: If the contest directors learn that you have violated any of the rules, or that you have neglected to cite sources, or have used any translation service or software to write your essay, you will be immediately disqualified.

Selection Process

Step 1: Two panels of judges will read and evaluate essays on the quality of ideas expressed and their fluency of language. These two scores will be combined, and the top essayists will pass to the interview stage of the competition.

Step 2: The top essayists will be invited to complete a personal interview regarding their essay with a member of our international panel of judges. This interview will be conducted in the language of the essay, online via SKYPE video call. You will be expected to show your government-issued identification or your passport at the beginning of the interview, to verify your identity.

Step 3: Winners will be selected based on the scoring of Step 1 and Step 2. Selection criteria includes the originality and quality of thought and the written and spoken language proficiency in the essay and interview.

Notification

Please do not send inquiries regarding your individual status as an entrant. We will not send notification until after the winners have been chosen and confirmed their attendance at the Global Youth Forum.

A total of 60 Winners will be chosen: 10 Winners for each of the six official UN languages. In mid-May, ELS Educational Services, Inc. will begin notifying Finalists for interviews. ELS Educational Services, Inc. will send Winners a letter of invitation to the 2016 Global Youth Forum and ELS Preparatory Conference. At that time, Winners will also receive complete rules of participation for the ELS Preparatory Conference. Winners are required to sign a statement promising to abide by all of these, and acknowledging that they will be sent home immediately, at their expense, if they disobey any of them.* Winners will also receive detailed instructions about visa application, e-ticketing for the round trip (non-refundable) air ticket, arrival procedures and the tentative agenda of Conference, which will take place from 25-31 July 2016.

*No e-ticket will be issued until the Winner’s signed statement has been received by Many Languages, One World.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.els.edu/en/ManyLanguagesOneWorld