Nunn School Students Participate in the 2nd UN Peace Summit

Posted April 2, 2020

From February 5-7, two Sam Nunn School of International Affairs students participated in the 2nd Peace Summit of Emerging Leaders hosted by the Humanitarian Affairs Asia at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.  

With the financial support from the office of Provost Rafael Bras, Kaelyn Kim, a second-year International Affairs student, and Jack Sheldon, a second-year International Affairs and Modern Languages student, were able to represent Georgia Tech at the summit.

The participants had many reasons to attend, for Kim, she grew up learning about her grandparents’ experience living through the Korean War and also listening to stories of refugees in her community. “It is evident that maintaining peace has been and continues to be challenged,” said Kim. “Taking action is imperative, and I believed this summit would provide me an opportunity to learn how I can best contribute to this movement of peace. Additionally, the location of the conference has a special place in my heart as I have lived overseas in this region for seven years, and my time there has inspired me to study International Affairs.”

The Humanitarian Affairs’ mission is to empower young people who are passionate about current affairs, global issues, and social change. By attending the summit organized, students developed the skills and tools to create positive social change in their communities. 

“It was important for me to attend the Youth Peacebuilding Leadership summit for two main reasons,” said Sheldon. “First, I saw it as a way to network with students and young professionals within the international development and peacebuilding community, an opportunity I could not pass up. Second, the summit was a great way to learn from fellow delegates what best practices or lessons they have learned during their time as peace ambassadors so that I could bring those lessons back to my community and Georgia Tech as a whole.”

Over 500 young leaders from around the world came together to take part in networking sessions, interactive workshops, and keynote presentations. In the course of two days, students learned more about the importance of peacebuilding. The goal of the summit was for these leaders to be champions of peace in their communities. 

“Being able to interact with fellow delegates from across the world, provided greater perspective on pertinent, global issues I study in a classroom-setting at Georgia Tech,” said Kim. “Often, I can feel very much removed from the topics I learn about, but through the relationships I built with fellow students who have lived and experienced these issues first-hand, these matters have become much more impactful,” said Kim.

Kaelyn Kim and Jack Sheldon are now Humanitarian Affairs Peace Ambassadors for the next year.