On the 28th of January, fifteen students from Wells attended the BKKMUN XXIX conference in Bangkok Patana School. This was the first Model United Nations (MUN) conference for six of our students, and they all had a challenging yet incredibly rewarding experience. Attending conferences like BKKMUN allows for students to develop their public speaking and social confidence, skills which help extend and apply what is learned in the classroom.

Here are some of the reflections that participating students shared about their learning experiences:Ìý

“As someone who has been a delegate many times, it was exciting to be able to chair, not just for any committee, but for the Historical Special Operations Committee (HSOC), one of the most unique and fun committees out there. It was tiring and laborious writing the countless documents needed in preparation for this event, and running around from room to room hand delivering messages, reading communiques and coordinating the event with my fellow chairs. However, the blast I had watching things unfold and the people I met made up for all of it.”Ìý

– Sameer Gathia (Class of 2024)

“Although I have attended many MUN conferences so far, this conference had the friendliest people whom I was able to socialize with. They encouraged me to speak out, so I gained more confidence when giving a speech.”Ìý

-Risa Takahashi (Class of 2024)

“This was my fourth MUN conference, and it was one of the best conferences I have been to. The delegates around me challenged me to speak out loud in a way I normally do not do. As a Wells MUN club leader, this conference has made me further realize that MUN really helps one become a different person, and it helps students develop skills that will stick with them throughout their whole lives.”

-Tanish Kedia (Class of 2024)

“This conference was one of the many MUN conferences I have been to so far. I was expecting this conference to not be fun because of the topic I had to discuss but this conference turned out to be a really fun conference where I was not only able to make new friends but also learn more about an issue that I was not aware of.”

-Franny Pandya (Class of 2024)

“This was my first in-person MUN conference after a while of doing online conferences due to Covid-19. I had a great time meeting all of my friends there and being able to get back into the loop of MUN.”

-Nicole (Class of 2023)

Written By: Tanish Kedia, Class of 2024

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Youths for SDGs

In the time span from January to March, the Virtual Youths for SDGs conference took place for high school students. Just as in previous years, ¿Û¿Û´«Ã½ was happy to be involved in this virtual conference, despite the difficulties of Covid-19 pandemic.Ìý

Youths for SDGs is an academic event where students from different schools interact, learn about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), express their opinions, and tackle real world problems. Although in the past, the conference took place in international schools, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference took place online as it also did in 2021. Nevertheless, students still gained valuable experiences from connecting with other students online and discussing global issues. In fact, taking advantage of the conference being held virtually, students outside of Thailand participated as well.Ìý

Case Challenge

This event started on January 11th with the Case Challenge. Students gathered in groups of three and were given four issues to find solutions to, based on SDGs. This year, the topics were based on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Students were given until February 11th to work with their teammates to find solutions to the given topics, make presentations, record their presentations, and submit. From there, five groups were chosen to go to the final round, which took place on March 12th. All participants attended the ZOOM meeting online to watch the top five groups present their solutions. The meeting began with the opening speech by Ms. Prim, the founder of Youths for SDGs (also a Wells teacher and a Wells alumnus, Class of 2015), and a representative from UNDP. Then, the selected five groups presented their solutions and answered questions from judges and audience members. Everyone strived to come up with their own creative solutions to tackle real global issues.Ìý

Breakout Sessions

On February 5th, students attended Breakout Sessions onlineto learn and discuss existing global issues and connect them to SDGs. There were ten different breakout rooms for students to choose from, with the maximum of three rooms. The topics varied from technology, Covid-19 pandemic, education, and so on. Youth leaders, who are high school students, took the lead in the Breakout Sessions to present the issues and engage participants in discussion to express their opinions and give possible solutions.

Personal Reflection

As it was my second time attending the Youths for SDGs conference, things went smoothly in both the Case Challenge and Breakout Sessions, as I was more confident in what I was doing. The Case Challenge was more fun this year as there were four topics rather than only one. Because all the topics were related to Covid-19 pandemic, it made me aware of more current issues. My group’s main solution was to make an app, and working on this presentation made me want to have our app in real life. Presentations in the final round of the Case Challenge were all inspiring. I was surprised that the winners were from a school in Malaysia, but it just proved that we are all connected and striving to work together during the Covid-19 pandemic. I learned a lot from the Breakout Sessions as well. I met Youth Leaders that I knew from past inter-school events, and seeing them becoming the Youth Leaders inspired me to also want to be one in the future. In another breakout session, the Youth Leader explained the topic based on her real experiences, which was very interesting and relatable. Compared to last year, I could engage in discussions more confidently, so I was able to interact with other participants and learn much more from them.Ìý

On behalf of Wells, I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. Prim and the Youths for SDGs team for organizing an engaging virtual conference and giving international school students a platform to exchange ideas, collaborate and allow their voices to be heard.

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On Sunday, October 11, fourteen of our Model United Nations (MUN) members participated in the 28th annual Bangkok Model United Nations, the largest local MUN conference, at International School of Bangkok (ISB). Our students were among over a hundred students from various local international schools. A special keynote speaker from the CDC, Dr. Josh Mott, shared his perspective on the pandemic, as well as current statistics and work being done towards developing a vaccine.

The following committees were included in the conference: Security Council, Human Rights Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Disarmament and National Security (DISEC), UN4MUN, World Health Organization (WHO), International Court of Justice (ICJ), European Union (EU), and Sustainable Development committee. Topics discussed and debated included the question of the use and sharing of technology and data during a pandemic, improving humanitarian and disaster relief assistance, and sustainably developing public service systems in LEDCs.Ìý

Some of our students had chair positions in committees, opportunities to develop communication and leadership skills, as they helped coach delegates through the process of discussing issues and finding solutions. Soumili Kar served as the chair of ECOSOC council, and Hrithi Bhattacharya and Riddhi Tandon (Class of 2021) served as the chairs for UN4MUN, a new style of committee that focuses on building consensus and focused on developing collaboration skills.

BKKMUN XXVIII was an enjoyable experience for our Wells delegation with new experiences, sharing of diverse perspectives, collaboration, and displays of global citizenship. Our delegates were given the chance and voice to shine and contribute to positive problem-solving and peacemaking in this sophisticated simulation of UN procedures and committees. This was also an especially unique conference, as not many in-person MUN conferences are happening currently in the world due to the pandemic situation. Nonetheless, the students were able to discuss and gain more knowledge about such pressing relevant issues whilst practicing strictly enforced social distancing measures.Ìý

Special Mentions

Congratulations to Soumili Kar (Class of 2021) for winning the Best Chair award for her leadership of ECOSOC, and to Shreyaa Srivastava (Class of 2022) for receiving an honorable mention as a delegate in the UN4MUN committee.

Special thanks to International School of Bangkok (ISB) for hosting the conference this year, and for ensuring that social distancing measures were strictly adhered to throughout the event.

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On Sunday, October 7, ten of our Model United Nations (MUN) members participated in the 26th annual Bangkok Model United Nations, the largest local MUN conference, at NIST International School. Our students were among approximately 400 students from 21 international schools in the region.

Sapal Chapagain (Class of 2020) served as the Vice President of International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Aung Sit (Derek) Paing (Class of 2020) was the chair of Human Rights Council (HRC) 2.

Topics discussed and debated included the question of the evaluation of the structure of the Security Council, the question of sustainable development in rural and developing areas in the Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC) and the question of the right to privacy in the digital age in the Human Rights Council (HRC).

This was great practice for our MUN members for our upcoming fourth annual Wells MUN conference, WISMUN IV. Our delegates were given the chance and voice to shine and contribute to positive problem-solving and peacemaking in this sophisticated simulation of UN procedures and committees.

We commend our members for demonstrating bravery, diplomacy and global citizenship.

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On Saturday, February 3, thirteen of our Wells MUN Club members attended the first ICSMUN conference. Three of our members were chairs of different committees: Shreya Silori (Grade 12), Devanshi Mehta (Grade 11), and Lila Al Tamimi (Grade 11). The remaining members served as delegates in their respective committees, including ECOSOC, Human Rights Council, and Security Council. Student delegates discussed, debated, and collaborated on proposing solutions to major relevant global issues, from the question of mining the arctic to LGBTQ rights.

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On Tuesday, November 21, a group of High School representatives from our Student Council and MUN Club attended the UNESCAP Interregional Youth Policy Forum at the United Nations here in Bangkok. The purpose of the forum was to uniteÌýUN officials, policymakers and youth leaders from Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Western Asia to share their experiences collaborating on the Development Account project: “Strengthening the capacity of Governments in the ESCAP, ECA and ESCWA regions to respond to the needs of youth in formulating inclusive and sustainable development policies.â€�

The students joined a panel discussion on youth policy and development at global and regional levels, and listened to diverse perspectives on the topic. The intended outcome of this discussion was to increase familiarity and capacity identifying the needs of youth, in order to effectively support their development.

Wells would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Mr. Marco Roncarati and Mr. Bryce Hartley at UNESCAP for giving us the opportunity to learn and participate in the youth policy forum!

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