My Experience Moderating Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue Organized By Helping Hand International
Over the last twelve months, I worked as the Head Of The Content Writing Team at Helping Hand International. Helping Hand International is a Gujarat based Non-Governmental Organization(NGO) working towards spreading the word of Sustainable Development, Youth Activism and Social Justice in 40 countries all across the globe with more than 20,000 active volunteers. During my tenure as the Head of the Content Writing at Helping Hand International; Mr Dhruv Panchal, the Director and Founder of Helping Hand International wanted me to come on board to moderate Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue. In this blog, I will be sharing my experience moderating this prestigious event.
Brief Introduction About Helping Hand International (HHI)
Helping Hand International is an Organization established and working from Gujarat in India. It was established in the year 2016 under the leadership of Dhruv Panchal. The vision of the organization is “ All the People have access to & benefit of All-round Prosperity and Social Justice.” The members of the organization truly believe that we must reach the Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations by 2030 through global collaboration and the exchange of ideas. They primarily work on “Seventeen UN SDGs Spreading Peace, Social activism in youth around the world”. They believe in the ability of the youth around the globe to bring a positive change for the environment and human beings.
Helping Hand International(HHI) initially started with just ten members as a part of the organization in the year 2016. In a span of five years, HHI has more than 20,000 active volunteers working globally. We believe that empowering others can empower ourselves.
How Did I Join Helping Hand International(HHI) Family?
I am an extrovert. The lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in India pushed me to the brink of feeling bored and lonely at home. I love talking to people and making new friends. So I decided to start taking part in National and International Level Virtual Model United Nations(MUN) Conferences as a delegate and this helped me to make new friends like Jairam R Prabhu, Fathima Althaf, Dheeraj Pradeep, Nebu Titus, Karthik Udhay and many others from different parts of the world. On 21st June 2020, I met Tessa. Tessa is from Indonesia. She is presently the President of The Indonesian Wing of Helping Hand International. She took part in the AMC International E-MUN as my fellow delegate at the United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC). She invited me to join Helping Hand International as a member.
On 26th June 2020, I joined the WhatsApp Group of Helping Hand International Members. For the first three days, I was just messaging and connecting with the other members on the WhatsApp Group. The Global Director and Founder of Helping Hand International, Mr Dhruv Panchal wanted members for the Technical Team and Content Writing Team. I joined the newly formed Content Writing Team of Helping Hand International. I had a telephonic conversation with Mr Dhruv Panchal to know about the work done by HHI. I was amazed by the scale of work done by HHI in the domain of Sustainable Development. Then I started working on all the professional documentation of Helping Hand International along with my team members. After performing well, I was promoted to the position of Head of The Content Writing Team.
A Brief Introduction To The UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue
The Intergenerational Dialogues (IGDs) is a pioneering platform where young future leader’s dialogue with current leaders on their aspirations for what a better world should look like and offer inputs on how to shape it. The IGDs was officially launched in Accra on 06 May 2019 by the Co-Chair of the UN SDG Advocates and President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and Mrs Graꞔa Machel as the Chair of Global Peace. In 2020, Global Peace plans to convene Inter-Generational Dialogues (IGDs) across the world as part of the UN’s 75th-anniversary initiatives. Global Peace has already convened 30 IGDs in 2019.
How Did Mr Dhruv Panchal and I Start Preparing For The UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue (UN75 Global Peace IGD)?
Many international branches of Helping Hand International branches were successful in organizing the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue in their respective countries. Mr Dhruv Panchal was ambitious to organize the UN75 Global Peace IDG at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN75 Global Peace IGD was held on a virtual platform. After being impressed with my experience as a delegate in International and National Virtual Model United Nations(MUN)Conferences, Mr Dhruv Panchal invited me on board for this prestigious event as a Moderator. I could not say NO. I was also entrusted with the responsibility of organizing the event. I had to work with the convenor from the Global Peace Organization to organize the event. The Convenor from the Global Peace Organization was based in Durban, South Africa. India is Three and a Half Hours ahead of South Africa. The criteria for organizing the UN75 Global Peace IDG are as follows:
- DIVERSITY: Age, gender, experience, and expertise will be given due consideration.
- IMPACT: Contributions, achievements and expertise should be on global issues.
- ENGAGING: The Individual must be charismatic, engaging and have experience in speaking.
- INSPIRE & INFLUENCE: The Individual must be strong role models who can also inspire young people to make a positive impact in their communities.
Initially, we got six speakers who were influential, charismatic and impactful to be a part but the Convenor from the Global Peace Organization rejected our list of speakers citing lack of diversity. We were once again back to square zero in terms of preparing for the event. Then we got two female orators who were working as legal stakeholders and policy-making stakeholders. Finally, the panel of speakers were accepted by the Convenor of the Global Peace Organization. We decided to organize Gujarat’s First-Ever UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue on 23rd August 2020 from 4 pm(IST) to 6 pm(IST). We finally unveiled the poster for the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue on 19th August 2020.
I kept the midnight oil burning to prepare for this prestigious event. I had to work on preparing the agenda for the event. The entire event was scheduled for two hours. I had to make sure that all my speakers get a chance to speak in the time frame. I also had to prepare questions for my speakers.
The Event Organizing Team and Speakers of Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Intergenerational Dialogue
The Event Organizing Team
The Event Organizing Team had three members on board. I was one amongst them. The team was spearheaded by the Convenor of this prestigious event, Mr Dhruv Panchal. I was the moderator of this event. The Rapporteur for this event, Mr Surya Prakash Singh was also a part of the Event Organizing Team. Let me introduce you to my teammates from the Event Organizing Team, Mr Dhruv Panchal and Mr Surya Singh Prakash.
Dhruv Panchal is the founder and Director of Helping Hand International. HHI is working on implementing SDGs in 30 countries. He is a civil engineer but his interest lies towards giving something to society so he decided to Create Helping Hand International platform which works on UN SDG, Spreading Peace, Social activism in youth, Income generation, Health, Education, Clean Environment and Social Justice, Peace around the world at International level. He is the Convenor for the Event.
Mr Surya Prakash Singh was the rapporteur for the event. He has completed his schooling from BHAVANS BHARTIYA VIDYA BHAVAN Where he was the school captain for 2 yrs and was awarded LIC’s Best student of the year award. He belongs to the Sonbhadra district of UTTAR PRADESH and is currently pursuing a BA (HONS) POLITICAL SCIENCE from Zakir Husain Delhi College, DELHI UNIVERSITY. His goal is to become a Civil servant, to alleviate the distress of poor people. His hobbies are Gardening, reading the newspaper, travelling, social work, etc. Writing and reciting Hindi poems keeps him energetic. He had laboriously worked for one year with an NGO — UMEED, which imparts free education to the slum children. Presently, he is a member of HHI and the Vice Executive head of the HHI team based in Delhi.
The Speakers For The Event
We got seven speakers on board for the event from various parts of India. We had speakers who were from various domains like Journalism, Legal Advisory Boards, Student Body Heads, Governmental Organizations and Entrepreneurs. Now let me introduce you to the speakers of this event.
Mr Yudhisther Singh Ranawat is presently pursuing Global Affairs Hons. from Jindal School of International Affairs. He is into photography, event management, tech and movies to name a few. He is worked as Joint Secretary, International Affairs and National Co-ordinator at Helping Hand International. He has also served as National Coordinator of El Jeffa Foundation, Delhi.
Kushal S L is the Founder & Director at The Vimana, a multidisciplinary platform facilitating dedicated students to work on experience-oriented to gain knowledge & skillsets and on impact-oriented projects to create innovative solutions for society. He believes “BE is not a professional degree, it’s just a Certificate of Participation” and the country needs more contributors. For the many students who realize this & dream of going beyond academia, The Vimana is not only breaking many growth-resisting barriers but is also collectively energizing the changemakers to break bigger barriers themselves. Kushal & his Co-Founder Komala Chenna have established an Ed-Tech Company named “Sapientury”.
With over three decades in Media with leading newspapers, Deepak Dwivedi started his Journalism career with Blitz leading weekly tabloids with a focus on investigative journalism. He worked closely with the founder Rustom Khurshedji Karanjia respected Indian journalist and editor who typically signed his reports as “R. K. Karanjia”. All through his career, he has been focusing on Journalism for Action. Engaging with grass-root journalists for Socio-Economic Development. There was always a deep interest in the criminal justice systems as also its interplay often clashing with the human rights as a specific focus with a philosophy “Never underestimate the power of community and communication for they can write inspiring history“. He is a part of the Academic Council on the United Nations System ACUNS — Expert Member on Poverty & Human Rights Central & South Asia.
Mr Bhavesh Prajapati is an Information and Communication Technology Officer at Directorate Of ICT & eGovernance, Department Of Science and Technology of Government Of Gujarat. He graduated from Dharamsinh Desai Institute of Technology with a BTech degree in Electronics and Communication in the year 2013. He has worked with Tata Consultancy Services as an IT analyst from 2013 to 2019. He has expertise in SharePoint,Asp.Net, C#, MVC, SSIS, SQL. He is a keen learner of new technologies and always ready to face challenges that can help him grow in this competitive world.
Ms Meenal Verma is presently pursuing B.A.LL.B from Swami Devi Dyal law college, affiliated with Kurukshetra University. She is working as an intern at the Chandigarh District Court. She is the regional operator of the “F-R-N-D-S Chandigarh” an NGO that has been actively helping the unprivileged people through various initiatives and events. She is the city lead for the Camp Diaries NGO, a project under “ Creating Dreams Trust” that teaches co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to government school children and make them independent learners. She is also a part of the AIESEC Chandigarh.
Mr Harsh Ramesh Sanghavi is an Indian politician and current member of the Legislative Assembly of Majura in Gujarat, India. As a youth, he was active in student elections and became a social activist. He began working in tribal areas on Sickle-cell disease. He then worked in a civic hospital. He was appointed as the general secretary of state for the BJP. He was elected as the youngest member of the Legislative Assembly from Surat City (Majura). He won Majura Seat by a record-breaking margin and was the 4th highest winner of the Gujarat Assembly. In 2013 Harsh was reappointed as youth BJP state Vice President. He was appointed as National General Secretary of the National BJYM.In 2017 he was appointed National Vice President of BJYM.
Ms Aarti Bansal is pursuing her undergraduate in Political Science Honours from the University of Delhi. She loves to write. She is also a blogger and she writes for various think tanks and NGOs. She writes on issues of international affairs diplomacy and global politics and loves to read and learn on the same issues. Aspires to be in Diplomacy, in Indian foreign service. She has worked with today’s kalam Foundation and el jeffa. Apart from these NGOs, She has worked with the Indian army think tank Centre for land warfare studies, Global Counter-Terrorism council, and currently working with the Kootneeti. She has also served as president of her college’s society, Gandhi Study Circle.
Iconic Statements Made By The Speakers at Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue
The stage was set for the event. The event was held on ZOOM, a virtual conference platform on 23rd August 2020. The speakers gave their opening remarks. To make this Intergenerational Dialogue interesting, I asked questions to my speakers on global issues and Sustainable Development Goals. I would be sharing some of the most iconic statements made by the speakers at the prestigious event in response to my questions.
When being questioned about improving the quality of education from the grassroots levels, Mr Kushal SL gave an impressive answer. He said
Many schools and colleges are striving to digitalize the educational system. The educational stakeholders have been struggling to adapt to the new environment. Over the last 5 years, educational institutions have given technology to students but are they well equipped to handle it? So I would say that merely giving access to facilities and infrastructure isn’t sufficient but more emphasis should be put on training the people how to operate it. We need to create a digital learning environment that is away from the world of online distractions like binge-watching, online games and social media. We know that every student is unique and equally different on their own terms. Now we need to create a curriculum that is unique for each student at the grass-roots level, i.e.Universal in nature. We must get away from the rigid curriculum. The students need to be given more exposure to the variation in society. I believe education without purpose is like a bird without its wings, so we need to focus on creating a vision in education. By ensuring these things one most important factor, affecting the quality of education would be the “Training of educators”.Our education system needs to focus and provide adequate training and guidance to the educators thereby enhancing their skills and efficiency.
When being questioned about the vision of building resilient and sustainable cities, Mr Bhavesh Prajapati Sir spoke from the perspective of a public servant. He said,
Yes, in the current world rapidly increasing rural to urban migration, is the reason for urbanization. For sustainable cities as gov officer will plan to work on the area like —
1)As we know day by day population increases, we have to make usages of land more efficient. And also work on Making cities safe and clean.
2)Need to Expand housing opportunities for all.
3)Need to work on reducing congestion, air pollution and resource depletion, boost the local economy, promote interactions and ensure security.
4)Preserving and developing open spaces — parks, playgrounds, and recreational spaces to enhance the quality of life of citizens
5)Reduce the urban heat effects in Areas and generally promote eco-balance
6)Maximum use of technology to govern citizen-friendly and cost-effective. Use online services to bring about accountability and transparency, especially using mobiles to reduce the cost of services and providing services without having to go to municipal offices.
7)Use online monitoring of programs and activities
When being questioned about India’s progress in attaining the Seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals and the role of media in it, Prof Deepak Dwivedi Sir spoke from the perspective of an SDG Crusader. He said,
SDG is adopted by 192 countries, and India’ rank is 115. India has improved its rank and the credit goes to our prime minister and the citizens of our nation. All the policies in India are incompatible with the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals. India is leading in every term and is making remarkable progress. we have to show to the world in 2025 that India is the leader of its achievement. SDG is meant for the development of common people. We need to design the framework and to teach the people about sustainable development goals and its importance for a secure life. The UN target for SDG is 2030, but India is performing very well than other developing countries and will surely succeed in its aim. Media plays a very crucial role in the development of society. The simple meaning of media is to propagate our achievements and success in and around the world. Media is the most important tool by which a government can be held accountable. Majority of our population resides in rural areas so it becomes the responsibility of our Youths to simplify and compress their knowledge and write articles in their vernacular languages and propagate it to the people suitable so that all language should not become a means of alienation.
When being questioned about Global Cooperation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the young aspiring Indian Foreign Service Officer, Ms Aarti Bansal said,
We are talking about SDGs today, which can be realized only with strong global partnerships and cooperation. SDG 17 specifically talks about Partnership for the goals. Any successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships — at the global, national and local levels built upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the centre.To put simply, without significant progress on SDG 17, achieving the rest of the first 16 goals will be a near-impossible task.If steps aren’t made to coordinate, collaborate, and convene within and between countries to work together towards the SDGs, the likelihood of achieving them will get slimmer. Because the SDGs do not represent a set of individual global issues. They are interconnected, each affecting the other in multiple ways.And talking about this pandemic, no country can overcome this pandemic alone. During such unprecedented times, Global solidarity is not only a moral imperative, it is in everyone’s interests.‘How we work effectively in partnerships must be at the heart of our response to COVID-19 and it is key to the ‘path shift’ needed to realise the 2030 Agenda.According to the 2020 SDG Report, we remain off-track in reaching the SDGs and in mobilising the necessary resources. The current pandemic only added to the challenges for the international community and risks undoing hard-won development gains of the past. Socio-economic impacts are already being felt and have long-lasting consequences, possibly reversing decades of progress in poverty eradication and sustainable development, pushing up to 71 million people into extreme poverty in 2020. the global economy is projected to contract sharply by 3 per cent. Most developing countries do not have sufficient domestic resources and fiscal space to fund adequate COVID-19 response and recovery measures. International cooperation and external finance are crucial.Multi-stakeholder collaboration is needed now more than ever to tackle the challenges and will be essential to “recover better” and that any recovery strategy should ensure that we collectively remain on track towards the longer-term objectives outlined in our 2030 Agenda So, in this context, there must be a broad consensus that international cooperation is the only key.
When being questioned about bridging the gender gap in India, Ms Meenal Verma expressed her stance from the perspective of a future practising lawyer. She said,
We talk about equality, rights, freedom, we need to prove it. In-country like India, many women have played a vital and emerging role in the growth of the country. Cornelia Sorabji, the first women lawyer of India, Kiran Bedi, Indra Gandhi, Nita Ambani, there are so many names today who have proved that gender won’t stop them. In every field, women have come so far that they are inspiring others. We can do different initiatives to make them more powerful. By education, scholarship for girls in rural areas and laws for women should be more rigid like recently Supreme Court Of India has passed its judgment- Daughters have coparceny rights even if their father was not alive when Hindu Succession Act, 2005 came into force. We need more laws that help women build their own identities.
When being questioned about the role of Non-Governmental Organizations in collaboration with the Government to bring about a change, every experienced Mr Yudhisther Singh Ranawat said,
It all begins with the collaboration of the NGOs with the Local Government. Stakeholders on either side must be ready to collaborate for a better future. The vision of the Central Government plays a vital role in bringing the NGOs closer to the Government. The Central Government must have a vision for investment and trust. International NGOs must also walk the talk and join hands with local governments. NGOs can empower the local governments. The collaboration should be of such a kind that they tolerate each other’s flexibility and accept the mistakes on their respective sides. They must be ready to look up at each other for inspiration and better collaboration.
The Honourable Member of the Legislative Assembly(MLA) of Majura Constituency, Mr Harsh Sanghavi Sir talked about the need to alter our ignorant attitude with alertness and activeness. He said,
We needn’t do the humongous task without any vision, but little efforts with noble vision along with consistency will bring major changes in the society.
If you are interested, you can read the proceeding of the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue organized by Helping Hand International in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The link is given below.
You can also watch the entire session recorded on the Global Peace Facebook Page.
My Favourite And Most Memorable Moment During Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Intergenerational Dialogue As A Moderator
The entire event was arguably a very special thing that happened to me during my tenure as the Head of the Content Writing Team at Helping Hand International. During this event, I was appreciated by Prof Deepak Dwivedi Sir. During the session, I asked Deepak Dwivedi Sir a question, “What are the main obstacles and challenges that will block the vision for working together for a better world?”. He smiled and said,
आप सबसे प्रासंगिक प्रश्न आप ने पूछा है हेमंत जी(You have asked very relevant question Mr Hemanth). It’s always a challenge to bring everyone to work together for one goal. We as educated people must support each other in this venture. Some people may like the approach of an officer and some prefer the leader. We must understand that in a country like India, the citizens have the right to approach public representatives like MLAs, MPs, CM and the Prime Minister. Noting with regret the arrogance and ego displayed by the bureaucrats can be a major hindrance to collaboration. Civil societies and philanthropists play a vital role in unifying everyone. Public participation is the key to working together. The partnership is to stay together and look for opportunities to improve everyone. Diverse ideas must be appreciated in a collaboration. An IAS officer struggles to bring about a change in his locality but a politician builds a legacy. Political science is way beyond other academic pursuits. We need to be more grounded to join hands. Everyone has to join hands to achieve the goals for a better world.
In a country like India, the word “Ji” is used as a suffix to a popular person’s name. From this instance, I learnt about the importance of being humble and respecting everyone irrespective of your social and financial status. This is my favourite and most memorable moment during Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Intergenerational Dialogue as a moderator. You can watch the screen recording of Prof Deepak Dwivedi Sir’s answer in the link given below.
Media Coverage And Audience Response For Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue
The event was a grand success. The event was appreciated by the audience for its discussion focused on global solidarity, social entrepreneurship and partnerships for success as being essential to ensuring development for all.
On 25th August 2020, Gandhinagar Metro published an article appreciating the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue organized by Helping Hand International. Gandhinagar Metro is a renowned Gujarati newspaper since 2015.
On 27th August 2020, Dainik Baskar Newspaper published an article appreciating the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue organized by Helping Hand International. The Dainik Baskar Newspaper is a Hindi daily newspaper ranked fourth-largest largest by circulation and the largest newspaper in India by circulation. You can find my name in the upper right-hand corner of the Dainik Baskar Newspaper.
The UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue organized by Helping Hand International inspired many other organizations in India and other countries to host this prestigious event. Dr KM Senthur Pandian and his team organized the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India on 31st August 2021. The Indonesian Wing of Helping Hand International organized the UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue in Jakarta, Indonesia on 12th September 2020.
Conclusion
In this entire blog, I have shared my personal experience as a moderator of Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue. As a concluding remark, I would like to say,
Initially when I was offered this opportunity to moderate Gujarat’s First of Its Kind UN 75 Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue by Mr Dhruv Panchal, I was a bit hesitant and nervous because I have never done such a massive event before this one. Mr Dhruv Panchal motivated me to do it. I really feel happy for the work I did donning the role of a moderater and as a member of the event organizing team. This event was one of the best things I did during my tenure as the Head of The Content Writing Team at Helping Hand International. I would like to thank Mr Dhruv Panchal, the director and founder of Helping Hand International for giving me this opportunity to moderate this prestigious event. Special thanks to all my speakers who made this event a grand success.I would also thank the Rapporteur for the event Mr Surya Prakash Singh for taking note of all the statements made by the speakers during the event.This event helped me improve my oratory and management skills.
