National, August 08, 2019: With an aim to give Gen Z school students a comprehensive platform to gain insights into the workings of the United Nations, Worldview Education along with the Harvard International Relations Council (IRC) will co-host the 9th Annual Harvard Model UN (HMUN) India. The conference will be spread over four days and witness the participation of high school students from India and various other countries. It will be held from August 15th to 18th, 2019 in Hyderabad. The theme for this edition of the conference is ‘Converge for Change’, which looks at inspiring delegates across all walks of life to collaborate on issues and build innovative and impactful solutions at a local and global scale.
The annual conference brings together over 1,500 passionate Gen Z delegates each year to discuss, debate and solve some of the most pressing global challenges. Harvard Model UN India aims to inspire delegates to apply what they learn about the Sustainable Development Goals and incorporate it into real-world initiatives with a focus on diplomacy, collaboration and social change.
Each committee at the Harvard Model UN India will focus on issues highlighted under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the committees will be chaired by students of Harvard University with experience in running powerful academic simulations of the United Nations. All the participants of the conference will be recognized by Harvard Model UN for their commitment to work on building globally acceptable solutions through peaceful dialogue. In addition, two of the most impactful actions/projects submitted under the #Act2Impact initiative that the conference promotes will win a full scholarship to participate in the Harvard Model UN to be held in Boston, USA. The conference held in Boston is one of the oldest and most prestigious Model UN conferences in the world and brings together close to 3,000 students from 50+ countries every year in the last week of January.
Additionally, outside of the committee room, delegates will also have the chance to attend Leadership Forum, which bring some of the top business and political leaders together to share their points of view on issues of global importance. Some of the distinguished leaders who will address delegates at Harvard Model UN India 2019 include Mr Jayesh Ranjan (Principal Secretary to Government of Telangana), Mr Shiv Shivakumar (Group Executive President Corporate Strategy & Business Development- Aditya Birla Group), Mr Arun Maira (Former Chairman, Boston Consulting Group India and Former Member of the Planning Commission of India), Mr Chandrashekhar Radhakrishnan (Vice President Strategy & Insights, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia), Mr Ravi Bhatnagar (Director External Affairs & Partnerships, RB AMESA) and Ms Anu Acharya (CEO Mapmygenome and WEF Young Global Leader).
Commenting on the Harvard Model UN India 2019, Aditya Soma, CMO, Worldview Education said, “Our world today is at a critical juncture as we strive to responsibly harness the resources at our disposal in the most sustainable manner to solve some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. In this critical juncture, it is of utmost importance that we give a voice to the aspiration of the next generation, the Gen Z and empower them to be change makers in society. Harvard Model UN is a platform for this and we look forward to a successful 9th edition in 2019.”
Speaking on this year’s theme, Jenna M. Wong, Secretary-General, Harvard Model United Nations India 2019 said, “The Harvard Model UN aims to instil a sense of belief as well as urgency in its delegates, about the challenges that the world and their individual countries are faced with today and the potential they hold to make a significant difference. With an emphasis on encouraging delegates to hone their ability to bridge cultural divides, the conference this year will focus on guiding students towards the importance of working together rather than competing against each other in order to be successful in the grand scheme of things. We believe that this collaborative mindset will play a major role in helping them to take whatever they’ve learned beyond the conference and actually implement it towards making a scalable impact for societal progress in the real world. That is true convergence for change.”
International political conflicts, rising global inequality and climate change-driven natural disasters are some of the many issues that the delegates at Harvard Model UN India will aim to find solutions for. Over 1,500 students from 150+ schools are expected to participate in this annual conference. To participate in this conference and learn more details, school students can visit www.hmunindia.org.
