What if you are given a chance to pass on your ideas to resolve global issues directly to the UN? Sounds amazing but impossible? Well, brace yourselves as this is indeed possible now. Former Under-Secretary-General of the UN, Dr Prakash Shah said, “If you come out with a resolution vis-à-vis any topic of interest with respect to the Security Council, like a solution to the veto issue, for example, do not hesitate to send it to the UN, through the IIMUN, as the voice of the people is important." He was addressing a crowd at the IIMUN- Coimbatore chapter hosted at SSVM World School from August 2, 2019, to August 4, 2019.
For the uninitiated, IIMUN stands for India's International Movement to Unite Nations, which is a youth organisation founded by Rishabh Shah. What do they do? They conduct student conferences to discuss global issues. The forum replicates UN proceedings and hence, IIMUN conferences are also called mock UN conferences.
The first chapter of IIMUN, Coimbatore, which was hosted at SSVM World Schools, saw participation from as many as 800 students from different states, who were split into 20 committees. Out of these 20 committees, 16 committees were for high school and senior secondary students and four committees for middle school students. Each committee debated on a specific global issue. This included terrorism, environment, refugee issues and others. There were also committees which discussed interesting topics like the Marvel series, Harry Potter, etc.
In the opening ceremony, Chancellor of Avinashilingam University, PR Krishna Kumar said that only youth could unite nations and taking part in such events helps them do just that.
Asia's Got Talent fame, Sudhir R, presented a special flute beatboxing performance at the event. He said, "Be innovative in the interests you pursue and show your parents that they can be proud of you."
Managing trustee of SSVM Institutions Manimekalai Mohan, Trustee S Mohandoss, Professor Krishnan Kutty, Vice-President of IIMUN, Rishi Jain, Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair and other delegates were present at the opening ceremony.
