65 nationalities at UNIS Hanoi answer the call for "dialogue over division"

Students carried the flags of the 195 member and observer states of the United Nations at UN Day. Photo: UNIS Hanoi

The celebration caps a week of student action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), following the UN's 81^st anniversary on October 24.

In his UN Day message, UN secretary-general António Guterres urged the world to choose "dialogue over division" and cooperation over confrontation. UNIS Hanoi, one of only two United Nations international schools in the world, answered UN Day this year with: "One community, 65 nationalities". The school has grown from 63 nationalities last year, with students from Pakistan and Belize represented for the first time.

The UN Day Assembly opened with the Parade of Nations, in which students carried the flags of the 195 member and observer states of the United Nations. Student speeches and music followed, and the day ended with a community potluck lunch of dishes from around the world.

UN Day was the finale of SDG Week, five days in which students aged 3 to 18 turned the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals into action. The highlight came on November 5, when the campus held Earth Hour during the school day rather than in the evening. Around 365 students took part, switching off lights, screens and air conditioning and avoiding an estimated 27 kg of CO₂ emissions, the equivalent of charging a smartphone 3,200 times. Earlier in the week, students competed in the SDG Games, with each challenge linked to one of the goals.

“UN Day is a reminder of the purpose we share at UNIS Hanoi. Every day, our students from 65 nationalities learn with and from one another. They ask questions, listen to different perspectives and discover what connects them. Seeing the care and curiosity they bring to these relationships gives me great hope for the world they will help shape,” said Dr Elizabeth Gale, head of school, UNIS Hanoi.

The week comes as Vietnam works towards a place among the top 50 countries in the UN's SDG Index in 2026. With just four years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UNIS Hanoi wants to show that schools can help turn global targets into everyday habits.

"Today reaffirms that the United Nations belongs to all of us. We’re seeing young people from 65 nationalities proving it by turning the Sustainable Development Goals into practical actions. As Vietnam and the UN begin a new chapter of partnership, it is this generation that will carry the 2030 Agenda forward," said Matthew Jackson, UNFPA representative and UN resident coordinator.

Students will put dialogue into practice again at the UNIS Model United Nations conference on November 28–29, where they will debate global issues as UN delegates.

UNIS Hanoi is a non-profit, co-educational English-language day school founded in 1988. It is one of only two UN schools in the world, the first IB (International Baccalaureate) World School in Asia and the first international school in Vietnam. UNIS Hanoi provides an internationally recognised education for students from early years to Grade 12.

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