Message of the Mayor of Rome. Ignazio Marino

MESSAGE OF THE MAYOR OF ROME, IGNAZIO R. MARINO, TO WIMUN 2014 PARTICIPANTS

(ANSA)​

Dear Participants to WIMUN 2014,
Rome is highly honored to host this week for the first time so many young high school and University students, arriving from an impressive number of countries.
As the Mayor of the city, I would like to express to the President of SIOI and the President of WFUNA my personal gratitude for having chosen Roma as the venue for the flagship model UN conference.
I wish you a fruitful experience along your stay in Rome, while I remind you the historical vocation of Rome as an international and inclusive city.
The full support to the United Nations Organization is one of the qualifying highlights of the Italian foreign policy.
As the location in Rome of a number of UN headquarters and the host country of major UN agencies and institutions, namely FAO, IFAD, WFP, Italy is today, in the recent words of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, an “ideal partner of the United Nations.”
The President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, stressed, in his last address to the United Nations General Assembly, that the Italian Republic has subscribed since its birth to the principles of multilateralism enshrined in the UN Charter, and has always provided concrete, effective support for the fulfillment of its mandate.
The target date of the Millennium Development Goals is fast approaching. For the post-2015 Agenda we share the view of the President of the General Assembly, that a “significant evolution in thinking” is required.
Indeed. the main task of the UN should be to address the root causes of the ills afflicting our world, rather than limit itself to challenge the effects.
The city of Rome is proud to host the United Nation agencies dedicated to tackle the famine and improve the agriculture worldwide as tools to achieve the Millennium Goals throughout the planet.
This country is providing a specific contribution to the issue of Food Security through Expo 2015 in Milan. The theme is “Feeding the planet: Energy for life.” More than 140 countries, sharing the same values, have so far agreed to participate. Roma will duly play its part. Expo will be a challenge and an opportunity. The city will be the doorway for hundreds of delegations from all over the planet. And a number of special events, linked to the specificity of its territory, will be organized in 2015.
Dear participants,
This week is for you a unique opportunity to acquire negotiating skills and to learn how to join forces and ideas for pursuing a successful results. I am sure you will treasure the experience and the new contacts of these days in Rome.
Many of you will continue along this path, others will take different directions. Indeed, to you all I wish a bright future and a great time in Rome.