TOSMUN 2024: Olympians Grade 10 join hands to address global challenges

"Mitigating the socioeconomic and innovation consequences of Brain Drain" (UNESCO).

"Addressing health issues associated with video games overconsumption" (WHO).

"Disarming underage soldiers in conflict-prone regions" (DISEC).

"Utilising the use of technology in combating climate change" (IPCC).

"Ensuring universal access to reproductive health care services" (UN WOMEN).

These are the "hot" global issues that Grade 10 Olympians have brought to the negotiating table at The Olympia Schools Model United Nations (TOSMUN) 2024.

TOSMUN is an important annual event organized and operated by Olympia students under the guidance of English Department. Here, Grade 10 Olympians will act as diplomats, representing nations and engaging in discussions within United Nations committees to find peaceful solutions to conflicts, disputes, and global issues.

With over a month of preparation, Olympians have been divided into 5 councils: DISEC, IPCC, UN WOMEN, WHO, UNESCO. Each Olympian is required to research, write reports, and during the formal conference on March 15-16, they will present the status quo of the issue in their represented country. Each nation, with its unique perspective, has presented a multi-dimensional overview of global hot-button issues. And the discussions of these "diplomats" at the TOSMUN conference have been incredibly lively. With impressive academic English skills and sharp thinking, Grade 10 Olympians have excellently demonstrated their role in the debate session.

"The country I represent is the United States - a superpower that benefits greatly from vast intellectual resources, while some other countries can be considered 'victims' of Brain Drain. This phenomenon causes conflicting interests and leads to severe consequences in all nations. Therefore, our UNESCO council is discussing to find a common solution to this issue," shared Olympian Grade 10 Hong Vu Bao Khang.

Le Phuc Ha Linh (Grade 10), representing Somalia - a member of the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), also mentioned that before attending TOSMUN, she had little knowledge about the conflicts among nations. But through researching, writing essays, and participating in discussions on the topic

"Protecting underage soldiers in conflict-prone areas," she gained much insight into the "hot" issue not only in a few countries or continents but globally.

"Instead of sitting for 2-3 hours to take a test, the learning and assessment model of TOSMUN makes me very excited. Besides enhancing English proficiency, I also learned many new knowledge and a set of global citizen skills such as: communication, presentation, negotiation, self-research, planning, teamwork, multi-dimensional thinking, and argumentation...," Ha Linh shared.

In the upcoming working sessions, the 5 councils of TOSMUN will continue to discuss and propose effective solutions to the issues they are concerned about. Stay tuned to discover the initiatives of Olympians at TOSMUN 2024!