The vision when I started the organisation in 2011 was to spread the concept of one world - to build an egalitarian society by spreading the idea of India through sensitizing tomorrow’s leaders, today. MUN, I believed was a tool to decrease fissiparous tendencies and bring about actionable change. Howbeit, it has incontrovertibly become a tool to further the credentials of a school, an excuse for an official soirée or for other nefarious purposes, in short a mirror image of the United Nations and various world governments.
I.I.M.U.N has pioneered the concept in 220 cities and 35 countries, with about 98% of the cities not having a conference before we entered, and thus I feel responsible in a small way for what MUN has come to become. Therefore, we now embark on the journey of having every last school and student understand what MUN and in this case a Movement to Unite Nations actually stands for. A tool which will help students become glocal citizens appreciating both their countries culture and that of the world at large. A tool which will help them not just engage in fruitless colloquy but also bring about that Brobdingnagian change in their own infinitesimal manner. More so, a tool which will get them to understand how not to become just another United Nations.
The 12th year will focus on explaining students why India is the land that can Unite Nations - and why it is an idea and not a nation. The idea as it was in 2011 is to replace a highly anglicized elitist school of thought with the learnings of Gandhi, Tagore and the Vedic times. What is different is that it will now not just in our annual events - but through our network of 7500 schools and as them acting as torchbearers, we will continue to strive to build leaders who may not be Indian by birth but at least by thought. It is ironically time for India’s International Movement to Unite Nations!