‘The world we want, make it happen!’ For the thirtieth year, this United Nations (UN) Day message was the rallying cry to action for the whole school community. 

UN Day, an annual highlight in the School calendar acts as a vibrant reminder of the commitment UNIS Hanoi has made to champion the UN principles and goals. And this year was no different. In front of students, faculty, staff, parents, members of UN agencies and the diplomatic community, the School celebrated its diversity and reaffirmed its efforts to live the UN values. 

The hour-long event comprised choruses, cultural dance, speeches and poetry, while students paraded the flags of all 193 UN Member States and the two Observer States.

Mr Kamal Malhotra, Resident Coordinator for the UN in Vietnam congratulated the School on its milestone anniversary and in his address to students he said, “As UNIS Hanoi students, you are guided by the UN values of peace, freedom, human dignity, justice and respect - all elements that are at the core of the UN’s sustainable development agenda – and you therefore understand the need for the Sustainable Development Goals to be fulfilled. You are the future, and will play a big role in building the kind of world we all want to see – a world that is fair and has eradicated poverty by 2030, a world without war or conflict, and a world that values the environment and addresses the climate change challenge.”

The friendship between the UN, UNIS Hanoi and Vietnam was further celebrated when guest speaker Mr Le Hoai Trung from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked UNIS Hanoi for the contribution the School has made to Vietnam. He said, “UNIS Hanoi is the symbol of the commitment of the UN to Vietnam. The School is also is a symbol of the expansion of the cooperation, and through the growth of UNIS Hanoi, you also see the achievements of Vietnam.”

Mr Le, an alumni guardian, also commended the School for its dedication to providing talented underprivileged children from Vietnam the once in a lifetime opportunity to study at UNIS Hanoi through the School’s stellar scholarship programme. His touching remarks were followed by a speech from the Head of School, Dr Chip Barder on what was a milestone anniversary this day represented for him personally. His 10th UN Day in the School’s 30th year, Dr Barder shared how privileged he felt to have headed the School for so long and how his students ‘will always be [his] heroes’. Reinforcing the theme, ‘the world we want, make it happen’, Dr Barder said each student should take action when they see that there is a need. 

He continued, “My message today is another reminder that every interaction we have is an opportunity to create the world we want. It is right in front of us each time we are with people. It is how we treat each other, knowing that we can have some impact in a small but meaningful way.”