The United Nations Studies Program Working Group is a student led organization, working under the guidance and umbrella of the United Nations Studies Program at Columbia’s University School of International and Public Affairs.

It aims to connect students and the SIPA community to issues on the United Nations (UN) agenda by building a better understanding about the functioning of the organization based on its pillars of International Security, Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs, Development, Environmental Change and other relevant areas of the work handled by the UN System.

“To live is to choose. But to choose well,
you must know who you are and what you stand for,
where you want to go and why you want to get there.”

(Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat, seventh secretary-general
of the United Nations, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize).

The Task Forces up to date are:

Environment Task Force
UNICEF Media Task Force
Financing for Development Task Force
UN Media Task Force
Chad-CAR Peacekeeping Task Force
Disarmament and Security Task Force
Security Council Task Force

In the process of making out of expression of interest by students the following Task Forces are forming:

• UN and Media Task Force
• Financing for Development Task Force
• Cultural Sensitivity Task Force
• Elections & Democratization Task Force
• The Food Crisis Task Force
• Support for UNICEF Global campaign against HIV/AIDS Task Force

The UNSPWG’s Task Forces are a essential in bringing UN and SIPA closer. Their goal is to bring SIPA students, as the specialists they have become, closer to the UN to collaborate on academic, professional and practical projects.