CONFERENCE
DIRECTOR
Conference
Director
James Eyre
July 28th 1914, October 24th 1945, July 27th 1953, July 20th 1969, September 11th 2001, December 31st 2019.
What can you tell from the above dates? Do you know what happened on these days? Why are they important?
The events that occurred on these days have had a direct effect on all of our lives, even if you are not sure right now as to what effect that is. The last date is the most important one for us currently. December 31st 2019 was when China informed the World Health Organisation of an outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, of a novel coronavirus. We now know this virus as COVID-19 and it has affected the lives of all 7.8 billion people who share this planet as our home.
Some countries, such as South Korea, Vietnam and New Zealand, have managed to contain the spread of the pandemic through effective containment strategies. Other countries have faced more difficulties and have not been as successful in containing the pandemic.
KISMUN 2020 is the first Model United Nations conference to take place in Ho Chi Minh City since the beginning of the COVID- 19 outbreak. Where other conferences have been cancelled, the Leadership Development Programme members, the conference directors and the KIS administration have pushed forward tirelessly and ceaselessly to organize and deliver this conference in the most difficult circumstances possible.
November 6th 2020.
This is now the most important date for you. This is the date where you make a difference. This is the date when you ignite your passion.
The world has many obstacles to overcome. We are now looking to you to help provide solutions to these problems. The United Nations has not been able to solve the global issues that we currently face. These predicaments will continue in our lifetimes and yours. We look to the future generations to find solutions that have not been discovered yet.
This is your time. This is your turn. Create a better world for us all. Ignite your passion.
Conference
Director
The first two months of semester 1 were stolen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing was certain and everything remained unknown, in hard to understand territories. All MUN conferences in other international schools, including SAIMUN, were canceled one by one. I couldn't determine where I should start the first step to prepare for the MUN process. I was a novice in directing MUN conference and unsure whether KISMUN could be held or not due to the ongoing pandemic. Yet I could see the other Director of KISMUN open an online class for LDP students so that they can enhance their leadership and autonomy. Secretary and Deputy Secretaries of KISMUN 2020 completed staffing Student Officers who will lead the conference. Their eagerness and passion, that drove them to make things ready for launching KISMUN, started to transfer into me.
“Well begun is half done”. Ever since then, for five months, I have taken a role in recruiting all the members of KISMUN 2020, organizing five committees, fixing topics on global issues for each committee, completing Chair Reports and distributing them to Delegates, and setting up Chairs & Heads meetings and Delegate meetings for KISMUN. So far, I’ve been through the process to make the unknown to be actualized. It is the passion that propelled the process to go on. And I finally got the feeling that I was part of it.
We all had a tough start at the beginning of this year, but I truly believe that it will end with achieving great accomplishments. I really thank all the members of KISMUN who aroused the passion inside me. There is still a lot to deal with during the KISMUN 2020 conference, but now I’m sure the journey will fulfill and develop me and so will it do everyone who is participating in the process enthusiastically. Ignite your passion, team!
