The six candidates the students created — Mark Tupula, Maria Hernandez, Maria Elena Nader, Insaf Khalifa, Elena Tekle, Anahi Juana Pérez — strike a balance between idealism and pragmatism, reflecting the hopes of the younger generation for more engaged and diverse leadership at a time when the United Nations and many multilateral organisations are facing criticism for being too bureaucratic and out of touch.
Assigned to different thematic fields early on in the projects, students dedicated their candidates to causes including food security, sustainability, gender rights, migration, education, and peace promotion. Read more about the candidates in the grid below.
On her motivation for the project, Lucile Maertens said, “I am always trying to create new pedagogical projects which allow students to learn about the course's theme through original and ludic assignments — one of the best ways to ensure long-term knowledge retention! The United Nations Secretary-General selection this year was a great opportunity to approach the Politics of International Organizations in direct connection with current events and invite students to develop their research and creative skills.”
While the students were given guidelines on the types of materials to include in their projects, including biographies and campaign speeches, they were also given the freedom to show great creativity. One group created a website featuring a podcast and a campaign video; another produced a campaign poster; another prepared a financial disclosure statement to present the campaign accounts; another wrote a synopsis of a biographical book; another drafted a manifesto; and the final group set up an Instagram page.
"The campaign kits the students designed were not only timely and inventive, but also extremely well-documented based on individual and collective research. They showed how theoretical discussions informed their understanding of this critical moment in the life of the United Nations while demonstrating lots of dedication and creativity!" said Lucile Maertens.
As part of the project, the students were able to interview members of different international organisations to get firsthand information on the reality of everyday life in the field and at the offices of the organisations and to create realistic, though fully fictional, candidates. In the final class, the groups presented their campaign kit not only to the rest of their class but to guests from international organisations, including the UN. The students were congratulated for their work.