UPDATE: Students Attend UNICEF High Level Political Forum in New York

Earlier this year we announced that two of our students; Lisa Hagens and Rosa Heuveling Van Beek, had earned an exciting opportunity to fly to America to attend the UNICEF High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York.

UNICEF is a United Nations programme that defends the rights of children across 190 countries. In collaboration with UNICEF, Nord Anglia Education challenged their students to develop ways to raise awareness of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and determine solutions for two of these Global Goals:

• Goal 2 - Zero hunger
• Goal 3 - Good health and well-being

The final stage of this year’s efforts was for 80 student representatives from NAE schools around the world to present their Sustainable Development Action Plans for their local community at the UN’s HLP Forum in New York. The aim of this exclusive opportunity was to widen each students’ international perspective as well as develop leadership and diplomacy skills.

BIS HCMC Ambassadors to the United Nations

Here at BIS HCMC we held a rigorous application process to select two representatives as the BIS HCMC Ambassadors to the United Nations. After careful consideration the two successful applicants were Lisa Hagens and Rosa Heuveling Van Beek. Lisa and Rosa therefore secured the opportunity to engage in their first global Model United Nations (MUN) debate and present to and influence the decisions of politicians from across the world.

So how did they get on…?

French teacher and CAS Coordinator at BIS HCMC, Ms Daphnée Deleporte chaperoned the NAE students to New York for this prestigious event. Here she describes the trip in more detail:

From the 12th to the 19th of July 2017 I was very fortunate to chaperone a group of NAE students to New York to attend the UNICEF High Level Political Forum (HLPF) and visit the United Nations.

On arrival in New York, the students were set to work immediately where they were tasked with creating a Global Goals tile which was then transformed into an art piece. This was then exposed in the lobby of the UNICEF building.

A small group of 8 students, including our very own Year 10 student Lisa Hagens had been selected to deliver a presentation at the HLP Forum. This was an incredible opportunity for all students involved and we can see the final presentation from Lisa and Luca in the video below: 

Whilst those students set to work on putting the final touches of their presentation together, the other students started a discussion in their regional groups about what their individual schools had done towards the Global Goals.

The following day, the students continued to work on the Global Goals and had an interesting talk from Alison Bellwood, Programme Director of the World’s Largest Lesson.

On the Friday, students attended a HLP Forum side meeting on Sustainable Development. During the meeting, the students were able to showcase the projects that had been completed in their NAE schools in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Saturday and Sunday were spent in our sister school in downtown Manhattan taking part in the ‘first global’ Model United Nation (MUN). Each student was assigned a country to work on and pass resolutions. The students were amazing in their ability to use collaboration and diplomacy to resolve some of the conflicts which arose within the discussion on topics such as “eradicating hunger in developing nations” and “developing sustainable agricultural methods and practices”.

But it wasn’t all work and no play! The students had the pleasure of visiting the United Nations building and the One World Observatory as well as going to see Phantom of the Opera at the theatre.

On the final day in New York, the students went to the Juilliard school where they turned their newly acquired dance movements into a group piece representing the Global Goals.

The week came to a close with a wonderful gala dinner which was attended by dignitaries such as Mr Fitzmaurice, CEO of Nord Anglia Education who said, “It’s just such an amazing opportunity for our students to travel to New York and come here to UNICEF to see what actually happens - to see all the activities that UNICEF has created for this event and all of the things they’re doing about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.” Representatives from UNICEF and Barings Bank were also present and during the gala both Lisa and Rosa received a certificate for their outstanding work during the MUN conference.

I was personally overwhelmed by the level of enthusiasm and dedication towards the Global Goals showcased by the students during the course of the week. These young people were a true inspiration.

Ms Daphnée Deleporte, Teacher of French, CAS Coordinator

From all of us here at BIS HCMC, we’d like to offer our congratulations to all NAE students who took part in the MUN but in particular to our very own BIS HCMC Ambassadors Lisa & Rosa.

As we look to the future, and our collaboration with UNICEF, we are dedicated to achieving the Global Goals to create a sustainable society. For the new Academic Year our focus will be on Sustainable Development Goals 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) and 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production). So look out for further information on how we, as a community can influence the #GlobalGoals!

Join the journey #NAEUnicef #SustainableBIS