REPORT OF THE 2010 UN VIDEO CONFERENCE


"Fighting Poverty through the Millennium Development Goals"

The United Nations Student Leadership Video Conference on Development (6th November 2010)

‘We are all One humanity, therefore each of us is responsible for the well-being of our fellow humans, and we can make a difference to those living in extreme poverty through collaborative, practical, compassionate and committed action'. This belief steadily grew among the senior students who participated in November's UNVC,which was held to motivate students around the world to become more involved in finding solutions to poverty.

Omega's team of 30 students – we were the only school in India to take part – joined groups from Pakistan, USA, Canada, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN is encouraging young people to dedicate themselves to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to lessen a host of social ills, ranging from extreme poverty and hunger to maternal and infant mortality, to lack of access to sanitation, education and health care, all by 2015. In the 6 weeks preceding the conference, our team worked hard researching and brainstorming, guided by a group of dedicated teachers and Dr Devyani Mani –with many year's experience of working with UN.  They then presented a comprehensive 16-page Action plan.  For example, having learned that lack of sanitation accounts for millions of deaths from water-borne diseases, they are thinking how they might have an educational awareness campaign that will create demand for toilets – make them a status symbol!

Our students, aware of their own privileged lives, adopted a human-centred approach, wanting to understand the realities of life for their 400 million vulnerable countrymen and find examples of successful interventions.  In practice, post-conference, we have made contact with a local organisation that supports women to escape the trap of extreme poverty via Self-help groups.  We are exploring how our students can make a practical contribution to their lives whilst learning from the experience.  

The conference has added immeasurably to the students' awareness of many global issues and their own responsibilities as global citizens.