Hans von Sponeck

Hans-Christof von Sponeck, former UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq is an old friend, guide, advisor and member of the UWC family. He has been on the Council of Administration of the Adriatic College for the past 5 years.

At the International Affairs session organised on Tuesday, 20th of February, he presented general reasons behind conflict in today’s world and affirmed his belief in dialogue and communication. He spoke about the role of media, the arrogance of power, and engaged the students to have their own opinion.

He urged the students to question, to exercise their power and intelligence through voting and communication with peers; leaving out conflict groups is one of the biggest mistakes that ‘ great powers’ tend to make. He welcomed questions and challenged the students to criticise and analyse data.
Hans-Christof and his wife then joined students on the Foresteria lawn for lunch. Later he dedicated two hours of their evening to discussion, answering questions about his past experiences, advising students and leaving them inspired to take on the world! The second year students were grateful for this opportunity since they hadn’t been able to attend the International Affairs morning session because of their trial exams.