VVA Shines at IIMUN (VVA Primary/Secondary Section)
Students of Vidya Vikas Academy recently took part in the Indian International Model United Nations held at Sunshine Worldwide School, Old Goa. Over the course of the weekend (5th – 6th September 2015) the students learnt how to speak up, and how to resolve potential crises. Researching enabled them to keep up with current affairs and changed their mind sets.
The youth today feels an urge to speak up, to stand by itself and its beliefs and ideals. Here, the Indian International Model United Nations is trying to create platforms to bring the youth forward by providing the youth a responsible medium to put forth their ideas. Indian International Model United Nations (IIMUN) is one of the India’s leading brand in education conference management having organized the Asia’s Largest Youth Conference in Mumbai amongst the many other conferences. Being a conference for the youth by the youth, it is run completely by students in age group of 16-22 years. It provides the youth a platform to voice their opinions by forwarding their drafted resolutions to the United Nations. It is also the first MUN in Asia to have its own procedure. The events organized by IIMUN have been attended or supported by noted luminaries like Hon. UN Secretary General Mr. Ban-Ki-Moon, Hon. UN Under Secretary General Mr. Peter Launsky, Hon. UN Chief of Education Outreach Ms. Nathalie Leroy, Former UN Under Secretary General Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Pritviraj Chavan, Hon. Union Minister of Agriculture, Shri Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar, Founder of UTV and Walt Disney India, Mr. Ronnie Screwvala, Noted Bollywood Actors like Mr. Imran Khan, Mr. Rahul Bose, Vir Das, Mr. Cyrus Broacha, Mr. Aftab Shivdasani, National Film Award winner, Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Mr. Subhash Ghai, CEO of Future Group, Mr. Kishore Biyani, National Information Officer of United Nations Information Centre, Mr. Rajiv Chandran, Former Union Minister Mr. Manish Tewari, Union Cabinet Minister Mr. Suresh Prabhu and had performances by Dance Maestro Mr. Shaimak Davar, Mr. Mudassar Khan, Veteran Singer Mr. Leslie Lewis and many more.
About 150 students from twelve top institutions throughout the state participated in it and spent the weekend debating on topics ranging from the legalization of drones to whether Sanskrit should be included in school curriculum.
The students were allotted to one of the five UN committees [namely; the United Nations Security Council; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation; the United Nations Children’s Fund; the Lok Sabha and the International Press] where they represented different countries or representatives and discussed matters of political or cultural relevance. Fifteen pupils from the 9th to the 12th standards were selected to represent Vidya Vikas Academy at this prestigious event.
The delegation consisted of 15 members, all of whom excelled and spoke and performed their respective duties exceedingly well. The delegation consisted of the following:
United Nations Security Council Members:
- Trusha Ganesh: Russia
- Jeremy Miranda: Chad
- Shania Coutinho: Jordan
- Savio Andrade: Venezuela
- Piyush Waradkar: India
- Lok Sabha Members:
- Doyle Vas: Suresh Prabhu
- Bevan Fernandes: D.V Sadananda Gowda
- Joshua Dias: Ram Vilas Paswan
- UNICEF Members:
- Tarun Mascarenhas: Russia
- Chantal D’Costa: Chad
- Dinesh Lopes: Jordan
- Chelsea Marie Joseph: Venezuela
- Jonathan Periera: India
- International Press Members:
- Julian D’Costa
- Astrid Gracias
- At the end of it all, 5 members received awards:
- Chelsea Marie Joseph: Best Delegate, UNICEF
- Chantal D’Costa: UNICEF
- Tarun Mascarenhas: UNICEF
- Trusha Ganesh: UNSC
- Julian D’costa: Best Reporter, International Press
This enabled the Vidya Vikas delegation to lift the trophy of the Best Delegation. Al 15 students receive a direct invitation to the IIMUN Championship Conference in August 2016.
The VVA Team was co-ordinated by Mrs. Tania Monteiro and Mr. Amey Shirodkar was deputed to accompany the students.
