About SAIIA's Youth Programmes

Welcome to the new SAIIA Youth Programmes page. This page focuses on SAIIA programmes for high schools and universities. A strategic objective of SAIIA from its establishment in 1934 has been to stimulate public debate on issues of international affairs and to develop a greater awareness of South Africa's role in global affairs.  As a leading think-tank based in South Africa, SAIIA acknowledges the importance of working with young people, a group that makes up roughly half of the population. SAIIA does this by encouraging an interest in international relations among the youth through our leadership programme for postgraduate interns and through our various outreach programmes for university students and high school learners.

Many South African schools face enormous challenges, and SAIIA's schools programmes seek to go beyond single day events. By providing resources and tutoring, learners walk away with relevant skills that ultimately leave them with a deeper ability to engage with and understand issues affecting South Africa, the African continent, and the world as a whole. Topics cut across subject disciplines, often directly linking to subject Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards found in the National Curriculum Statement for South African schools.

These are exciting times for youth programming at SAIIA, and in the coming months we hope to grow the contents of this site.

Current Programmes

Environmental Sustainability Schools Programme:

This programme was started in 2009, and is one of SAIIA's newest youth programmes. The major goal of this programme is to raise awareness on the global climate change debate, its effect on developing countries, especially middle income countries like South Africa,  while encouraging learners  to constructively debate and investigate environmentally related issues both at a local and global level.

Each of the 22 initial participating schools was designated a country that is doing interesting work in environmental sustainability. Learners were able to choose to focus their attention on issues ranging from air pollution to land use and forestry  to water security. School teams produced a ten page essay on their selected topic, and 6 finalists were eventually chosen to give an oral presentation at SAIIA's Jan Smuts House headquarters. Prizes were awarded to the top three teams, with first prize being given to the team from Parktown Girls High School.

Model United Nations:

SAIIA's Model United Nations programme was originally started in 1994, and is one of the institute's longest running and most successful programmes. Since 2001 the SAIIA Model United Nations programme has partnered with Global Classrooms, an initiative of the United Nations Association of the USA, and hosts an annual conference held at SAIIA headquarters at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg. Students from the Wits Model United Nations Club serve as tutors for participating schools, working hard to ensure that all schools get a fair chance at competition.

Each year 50-75 schools throughout Gauteng participate, coming together to debate various topics in a model Security Council, or other branches of our model United Nations.  Staff from local United Nations offices, SAIIA researchers, and professionals from other organisations and businesses serve as our adjudicators.

Quizzes:

SAIIA's branches have been the driving force behind our very successful interschool quizzes, which presently take place in Cape Town in the Western Cape, and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. Questions are focused both on internationally related events, as well as current issues facing South Africa. Learners prepare for the quiz by keeping up to date on local and international current events by reading donated newspapers. One of the most important aspects of the quiz is to encourage learners to be more critical and thoughtful thinkers able to relate global events to the South African context.

Recent and Upcoming Events

SAIIA Interschool Quiz- Pietermaritzburg
28 August 2010 
Date: Saturday 28 August 2010
Time: 09h00 to 12h30
Venue: Hall 6, Royal Agricultural Showgrounds, Pietermaritzburg.

SAIIA UNA-USA Global Classrooms®:  Model United Nations Conference- Johannesburg
29th May 2010
Schools from throughout Gauteng once again came together to debate in this year's Model United Nations conference. This year's topics included: Nuclear Crisis- United Nations Security Council; Japanese Whaling- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and Somali Crisis- United Nations Security Council. The level of competition for this year's debate was high, and deciding on the winners was no easy task for our adjudicators. SAIIA would like to thank all of the participants and their teachers for making this year's conference another wonderful success.

SAIIA GLOBAL CLASSROOMS® MODEL UNITED NATIONS
JOHANNESBURG 2010 CONFERENCE

WINNERS LIST

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (SC)
The Nuclear Crisis
Best Position Paper:  Norway (Midrand High)
Best Delegation:  China (King Edward VII High School)
2nd Best Delegation:  Israel (Crawford College, Lonehill)
3rd Best Delegation:  South Africa (Bishop Bavin School)
Honourable Mentions:  2nd Speaker China (King Edward VII High School)
Closing Speaker South Africa (Bishop Bavin School)

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP)
Japanese Whaling
Best Position Paper:  Sweden (Parktown High School for Girls)
Best Delegation:  Sweden (Parktown High School for Girls)
2nd Best Delegation:  France (St Teresa's Mercy School)
3rd Best Delegation:  South Africa (Heron Bridge College)
Honourable Mentions:  Iran (St. John's College)
Cuba (Willowridge High)
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (SC)
The Somali Crisis
Best Position Paper:  Russia (St. Mary's High School for Girls)
Best Delegation: Somalia (Pretoria High School for Girls)
2nd Best Delegation:  India (Germiston High)
Best Speakers:  Opening Speaker United Kingdom (Jeppe Boys);
2nd Speaker Japan (Orlando West); Closing Speaker Russia (St. Mary's High School for Girls)

18th Annual CALTEX SAIIA Interschool Quiz- Cape Town
12 May 2010
With the official World Cup song "Waka Waka This Time for Africa!" playing  the winners of the 18th Annual Caltex SAIIA Quiz walked across the stage to claim their well deserved prize. 45 high schools from throughout the Western Cape came to Bishops Diocesan College to compete in this year's quiz organised by the SAIIA Western Cape Branch on the 12th of May. Cape Talk's, Africa Melane  and SAIIA's Tim Hughes served as the MC and the Quiz Master for the event. Questions regarding international current affairs, including World Cup content made this year's quiz both challenging and exciting. While prizes were awarded to the top three teams, no school went away empty handed as each school was given thousands of rands of new books. Well done to all participants, and special congratulations to the top teams. This year's winners were:  1st place- Jan van Riebeeck High School, 2nd Place- Westerford High School, and 3rd Place- SACS.
To find out more about the impact of the quiz on learners, read the following article written by Ronnie Elliot, a member of this year's winning team published in the Cape Times.

Youth Related Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns or ideas please contact our new Youth Development Officer, Desirée Kosciulek at:

Desirée Kosciulek
Tel :     +27 (0) 11 339 2021 ext 146
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it