At the campus Gemma Hall on September 12 (Tue), the Sookmyung Institute of Security Studies held a special guest lecture with Dr. Thomas Gass, who is the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

The 『Global Citizenship and International Development』 lecture program that invited Assistant Secretary-General Gass is a part of the Global Citizenship Education Project of the Sookmyung Institute of Security Studies for college students and it is a core liberal arts course that was created by our university in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Centre Of Education For International Understanding (APCEIU) under the auspices of UNESCO.

Assistant Secretary-General Gass, who is from Switzerland, was appointed as the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2013. He successively served as the Vice-Chairman of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) / UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) in 2008 and served as the Head of the Mission of Switzerland to Nepal from 2009 to 2013. Prior to the above, he had also served as the Head of the Economic and Development Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN.

On this day, Assistant Secretary-General Gass gave a lecture with the topic 「The Importance of Global Citizenship Education in the Era of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)」. He especially emphasized that it is essential to understand the interdependence between nations in the era of globalization.

The lecture was attended by over 200 undergraduate and graduate students interested in international organizations and development. The Head of Sookmyung Institute of Security Studies (Global Cooperation Major), Choi Dong-ju, who organized the event, said, “We hope this lecture can increase our students’ overall understanding on global citizenship education so that they can further develop the qualities and competences of global citizens.”