I.I.M.U.N. Digital
Flagship Conference 3.0

About

The Digital Flagship Conference 3.0 - Independence Day Edition of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.) took place from the 13th to 15th August 2021 on our indigenous platform which made it a video game like 3 D experience where students found themselves in a virtual city with acres of land to move about and they had access to different establishments across the platform such as a museum, a library, meetings rooms, an auditorium, a lounge for teachers, a section for their committee rooms etc. Additionally, the platform was VR-enabled across mobile devices and a special networking space was created for students to connect with each other.

The conference saw a participation of 1500 students from across 127 institutions who were spread across 110 cities in India and 35 countries.

Another major highlight of this conference was that the event took place in a Hybrid Format – where the participating delegates were in their respective hometowns but many of the segments which involved guest speakers and performers were actually conducted in person and streamed digitally.

One of the most iconic hotels in the country- The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai played host to I.I.M.U.N.’s Flagship Concourse. To add to this, we celebrated not just the start of the 75th year of India’s Independence but also the start of the 10th year of I.I.M.U.N. – an organisation that since its inception has strived to popularise the concept of Model UN and make it Indian-ised and accessible to schools in every nook and cranny of the country. Back when I.I.M.U.N. began, the concept and structure of MUNs was found in 19 institutions, however, today the organisation has been responsible in a small way to spread this to over 29,000+ schools across the globe where students just don’t sit and discuss about topics in the four walls of a class room but actually carry out social actionable goals in society and make a difference thereby revolutionising MUN to stand for a Movement to Unite Nations. Many of today’s elected parliamentarians, actors, doctors and lawyers of this country who were once a part of the organisation are in their own small way and in their own professions continuing to spread the idea and message of uniting the world- the Indian way.

On the days of the conference the students were divided into their respective committee rooms to carry out discussions and debates. The concourse saw twenty-four committees in total and the topics of discussion ranged from “Sustainable living in a world of changing trends” to “Empowerment of marginalised women groups” and from “Defining Mental Health” to “Relevance of the United Nations in the 21st century” whilst some of the committees that were simulated included “All India Political Parties Meet”, “Mahabharat” & “Indo-Pakistan Special Summit” to name a few. A few solutions that the student delegates came up with were implementation of stricter laws towards border crossing between India & Nepal (committee: Bi-lateral Summit), restricting immigration without visa/authorised identity and establishing an agreement for weapon sharing keeping in mind the protection of civilians. In War Cabinet, delegates passed a solution to ensure equal compensations to be made by the axis forces to allied forces as war reparations & to add India should be given a dominion status with political autonomy and inducted as a member of the British Commonwealth for their economic and infrastructure assimilation in the global community.

On 13th of August, the proceedings of the inauguration ceremony began with a panel discussion hosted by Cyrus Broacha who was in conversation with Dr Kiran Bedi, Mrs Neerja Birla & Ms Shabana Azmi. They spoke about the changes that can be introduced in the Indian education system post the pandemic in the attendance of 500 principals, trustees and directors from across 400 schools in India. After this discussion, Dr Jamshe Bharucha announced the launch of the Global Principal's Network (G.P.N.)- A new initiative set up by the organisation with an aim to create the world’s largest network of Principals. The inauguration ceremony also saw a fusion musical piece performed by Mahesh Raghavan, a renowned Carnatic musician known for playing Carnatic music on the iPad. For the final segment of this evening, the Founder-President of I.I.M.U.N. Mr Rishabh Shah was in conversation with none other than Mr Bollywood, Mr Karan Johar – this conversation was greatly appreciated by the audiences as it covered topics such as Indian Cinema, how films are the biggest cultural export to promote brand India, Cancel Culture & their vision for new India.

Day 2 i.e. 14th of August started with students being divided into their respective committee rooms but in the evening, the MUNClave speaker series was kicked off by a conversation between Dr Shashi Tharoor and Mrs PT Usha who spoke about Sports, Diplomacy and God’s own Country. After this, a pre-recorded video message by Mr Shiamak Davar was played for the students followed by a “Shiamak Style” dance performance by one of his troupes. Shiamak Davar is an individual who back in 2011-2012 accepted the invitation to be a part of I.I.M.U.N.’s maiden conference when he was approached by a group of young, honest and hardworking teenagers who wanted to make a difference in society & ten years down the line too he stands as one of our biggest supporter, advisor and someone we always look up to for guidance and inspiration. The host for this evening, Mr Sahil Salathia was then in conversation with Ali Zafar who connected virtually with us from Pakistan on Pakistan’s Independence Day. The conversation between the two of them revolved around music, cinema, youth, Independence Day & the students witnessed some live singing by Ali Zafar. The final segment of the evening was a performance by DJ Preeti Chauhan aka DJ Perch for the students to enjoy some Bollywood music.

The final day of the concourse i.e. 15th of August 2021 started with a relaxing yoga and fitness session by Tara Stiles, followed by a Flag Hoisting ceremony that was performed by General Ved Prakash Malik, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik & Dr Shashi Tharoor to commemorate Indian Independence Day. This was followed by a panel discussion comprising of the three Former Chiefs of Indian Armed Forces which was hosted by Indian Television Actor and Director- Mr Ravi Dubey. Followed by this was a segment which some would say is a rare sight on national television and something that has not been witnessed in the parliament – It was the coming together, for a civilised discourse, of two dynamic statesmen; Dr Suresh Prabhu and Dr Shashi Tharoor who spoke and debated their idea of India.

All in all, the amalgamation of the virtual platform to provide a surreal experience to the participants, the selfless involvement of the organisations board of advisors, the attendance of guests from different countries and those belonging to different sides but yet agreeing to be on the same platform at one of the most iconic venues of the country with a backdrop of the Indian Independence Day surely marked this as the perfect and most ideal start to a decade of I.I.M.U.N.