ASEZ WAO Holds an Environmental Exhibition at UN High Level Political Forum [HLPF] 2023

ASEZ WAO, the World Mission Society Church of God Young Adult Worker Volunteer Group, displayed an exhibition about the environment issues at the “UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development [HLPF] 2023” held at the UN Headquarters in New York, U.S., from July 10 to 19. The High Level Political Forum sponsored by the United Nations Economic and Social Council [ECOSOC] is an international event to examine the degree of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]¹ of each country. This year, 39 countries reported their progress.

1. The UN SDGs are an agenda adopted by the United Nations in 2015, and common goals of the international community for the sustainable development of humanity. It contains 17 main goals, 169 sub-goals, and 230 indicators that the international community agreed to implement by 2030 to solve a wide range of problems that the society has, such as poverty, diseases, lack of education, environmental destruction, and economic issues.

ASEZ WAO members from Dallas and Austin, TX, operated an exhibition booth on the first floor of the UN Headquarters during the forum under the theme, “Promoting Youth Activities for the Prosperity of the Earth.” The exhibition was successfully held due to the relationship between ASEZ WAO who participated in the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum held in April, and the UN Major Group for Children and Youth [MGCY] who was involved in hosting the Youth Forum at that time. In addition to ASEZ WAO, 18 organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], the UN High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], the International Monetary Fund [IMF], and UN Ministry of Foreign Affairs of each country participated in the exhibition.

ASEZ WAO members introduced ASEZ WAO’s projects such as Blue Ocean, No More GPGP, and Green Earth to the UN officials, representatives of NGOs, and government officials who visited the exhibition booths. Especially, they tried to attract the interest and participation of young adults. During this time, the members also attended the conference by country and listened to the environmental pending issues and countermeasures in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Peru.

People and experts from all walks of life, who visited the ASEZ WAO exhibition, said they were surprised at the unity and acting power of the members from 175 countries. Dr. Sameh Kamel, a member of the MGCY Organizing Committee, said, “I was amazed and speechless at the great work that ASEZ WAO has done for the community and society. I hope you will keep up with the good work, and we would like to support you.” James Yeates, Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation for Animals, said, “The work that ASEZ WAO does gives us hope that the world will change for the better.” Jose Lepe, an entrepreneur from Guatemala, hoped ASEZ WAO would implement various projects in his country, too.

Bezawit Girma from Austin, TX, U.S., who operated the booth, said, “While communicating with global leaders through this exhibition, I felt that ASEZ WAO has a lot more work to do for the earth and mankind. Some say that it will be difficult to prevent the climate crisis from getting worse, but we will do our best to bring a positive change.”