Joshua John Sundararaj, AICUF, India: I, Joshua was one of the 5 Indian Delegates of the IMCS Pax Romana World Assembly 2019.   Students from Various countries representing their National movements took part in the World Assembly. There were 5 Indian Delegates Rev. Fr. Emmanuel SJ (National Advisor-AICUF), Rev. Fr. Benjamin SJ (House Director-AICUF), Rev. Sr. Antony Maria Jansi (Women Commission Coordinator-AICUF), Jenny Toppo (State Coordinator- AICUF Jharkhand) and Joshua (National Council Member).

AICUF delegates

I really felt proud and privileged to represent India on behalf of my national movement All India Catholic University Federation among many countries who had taken part.

The Study Sessions of the World Assembly provided great knowledge about Sustainable Development Goals. It emphasized the Water & Sanitation issues prevailing around the world and described the ways to overcome them.

I had a very good exposure of getting along with delegates from various parts of the world holding different cultures and traditions. Almost all the discussions were based on the Relevance & Contextualization. The Discussion on the key global and regional challenges to sustainability enunciated the issues on the regional and global level of sustainable development.

The Session on the Sustainable Development Goals highlighted the 17 goals set by UN for the year 2030 and gave a precise idea on the reasons they were implemented by the United Nations General Assembly and the discussions on the 17 goals let us realize the prevailing reality.

The Sessions on the Human rights made us aware of all the prevailing human rights to maintain a serene social environment and the main focus was on the water & Sanitation as a right.

The Session about the good governance let us all know about its definition and how does it differ from the real governance in world countries. The principles measuring the good governance are Democracy & Representation, Human Rights, Rule of Law, Government Efficiency and Transparency & Accountability.

One of the notable events in the Study sessions was the Exposure Program. My Team visited the Lusaka Water Treatment plant in the near locality. The process of Water treatment was explained in detail by the labours working in the plant. We also made an analysis about the pros and cons of the water treatment plant & safety of the employed labours and presented it.

The Visit to the largest waterfall in Africa, The Victoria Falls was stupendous and I felt really blessed and gifted to witness the incredible Creation of God.

The Final Declaration of the IMCS Study Session on Good Governance, Water and Sanitation issues was drafted after several suggestions and editing.

My Experience in the Business Sessions in the second and final week of the World Assembly was quite good since the discussions were based on the Statutes of IMCS itself.

The Regional Reports portraying the current conditions and situations of the national movements were presented by the Delegates wherein I had a chance to put myself in front of everyone to present the IMCS Asia-Pacific Regional Report along with Jenny Toppo (India), Louisa Ho (Hong Kong) and Ching Chiang (Taiwan).

IMCS AP delegates

I volunteered myself to discuss the Structures of Movement’s Advocacy headed by Mr. Sameh Kamel (Egypt) and Mr. Victor Ayertey (Ghana). This discussion gave us a clear-cut idea about the exact definition of Advocacy and the various levels that the Movement shall advocate right from the grass-root level.

The New International Team was elected by the delegates of the World Assembly. Mr. Ravi Tissera (Sri Lanka) and Mr. Michael MMadubueze were elected as the President and the Secretary General respectively. Rev. Fr. Jojo Fung SJ was elected as the International Chaplain.

There are many ideas to reflect on this world assembly. But, I would like to focus on the prevailing Water & Sanitation issues and Human Rights issues since they are the basic requirements in order to live in a peaceful environment. I would suggest my national movement to consider the above mentioned issues and plan our actions accordingly at all levels.

Words of Gratitude:

I thank the outgoing international team Dr. Edouard Karoue (The President), Ms. Evelina Manola (The Secretary General) and Rev.Fr. Fratern Masawe (The International Chaplain) for their dedication, for their inspiring work and for the fruitful time that they had spent for the movement.

I thank the AICUF National Team and Rev. Fr. Emmanuel SJ (The National Advisor-AICUF) for choosing me as one of the representatives of India in the World Assembly and for accompanying all through the travel.

May God bless all our Endeavours!