TEAM PRESIDIUM PARTICIPATED IN NEW YORK MODEL UNITED NATIONS
Dated: 04-04-2015
Yet another shining moment for Presidium! Our young leaders are the first and
the only school team who participated in the world's oldest, largest and most
prestigious MUN, 'New York Model United Nations'. Young Presidians attended the
MUN as student delegates. The program was sponsored by the government of USA.
Around 3000 students from various universities around the world participated in
the program.
National Model United Nations or 'NMUN' is the largest and
the most distinguished college level Model United Nations in the world, held
every year in New York. Conceptualized in 1923, it is one of the oldest (approx.
92 years old) international educational programs based on the model of United
Nations.
NMUN is organized by the National Collegiate Conference
Association (NCCA), a nonprofit educational organization. The rules and
procedure of NMUN have been adopted from actual UN rules. The uniqueness of this
program lies in the multiple resolutions that are framed by the student delegate
committees and the resolutions which are successfully passed go to the
respective resolved committees in UN. The program was conducted inside the
United Nations Headquarters, this is indeed a historic moment for
Presidium!
THE NMUN CHRONICLES
NY-NMUN
2015, AN EXHILARATING EXPERIENCE FOR PRESDIANS!
Presidians are
going great guns! Our leaders in the making, attended the world's largest and
most prestigious NMUN at New York, a platform where countries of the world come
together to negotiate and solve international crisis situations. Our young
Siana, conveys her thoughts beautifully and says, "NMUN is a powerful experience
for our Montessori young people to come together to listen, negotiate,
collaborate and then offer solutions to some of our planets most pressing
problems. This programme is an important step towards achieving our vision of
educating world for peace." For her "NMUN is not just any extracurricular
activity, it's a course of leadership, a manner of development, a path to a
finer world - it's a way of life. NMUN has changed and transformed my life in
all possible ways, it has not only helped me shape myself as an effective MUNer
but also as an individual -it has certainly brought some radical changes in my
life."
Prarthita gives us an interesting anecdote about NMUN. She says
that she noticed "...some delegates were carrying business cards just for the
conference, I guess we can use it in our future MUN's." Calling it as her dream
she confessed that she has always used the background guides from the NMUN site
as her research work and says, "I never thought that I would a part of this
conference so early! Being an observer in this conference was itself a very big
achievement in my life!" Praising Alma College, she also says that, "The Model
UN Team of Alma College is the best team I have ever seen. They are so
hardworking, full of energy and they are always leading the group."
Taking a bite at the big apple, they had an enduring experience meeting
5500 delegates from across 200 countries at the conference. Gushing at his
experience at the conference, our eager beaver Rakshit says, "For us, NMUN was a
totally different kind of MUN! We can say that because of the debate and the
rules which they had and with the support and help given by Sushant Sir, we were
able to adjust very easily." Sharing his ideas, he suggests, "Such process, if
applied during our MUNs, will surely make us leave a mark in other schools.
There were many such things which can be done in our own MUN to create a
difference. We all hope that we may again get a chance to attend the next NMUN
but not as a shadow but an active delegate and make our school outshine
internationally."
Our young world leaders had a lucky chance to visit
and stay at the famous ALMA College in Michigan. During their stay they received
guidance and support from Dr. Derick Hulme, Professor, ALMA College. Presidians
also got a chance to interact and hold knowledgeable discussions with the Model
UN Team of ALMA College, which has been declared as an "Outstanding Delegation"
at NMUN for 18 years.
The interaction proved to be a wonderful experience in
itself as it was more than just debates and discussions between them! There were
interesting cultural discussions between Presidians and members of the college's
Rotary Club, where they exchanged fascinating anecdotes about traditions in
India and the way of life in America!
Going gaga over the knowledgeable
yet enjoyable discussions they had, Vinayak quips, "I personally enjoyed this
trip and never left the opportunity to learn something new every day. I learnt
lot of management skills not only from Alma College but also while living there
and packing. I also learnt how to prepare for the MUN conference so that we
could perform well..." Putting down his experience in apt words, he suggests, "I
also learnt that MUN is not a debating platform in which countries fight with
each other in fact it is a platform in which countries unite and negotiate to
solve worldwide problems."
Further moving on to the NMUN experience, as
a part of the delegate committees, Presidians got an insight into the actual
procedure and format followed at the United Nations. Giving a day to day account
of the trip, Rushil says "We arrived at New York on the evening of 27th March,
waiting with excitement for the NMUN conference which was supposed to start from
the 29th. Recalling the exciting trip he further explains his role at the
conference and mentions that he was supposed to shadow the Ethiopian Delegation
in the C-34 committee for the coming 4 days and on 29th, "all of us were ready
in our new suits looking forward towards the coming 4 days which had tons of
learning in store for us...", he adds.
Explaining the procedure followed
at NMUN, Rushil explains, "On the first day of the conference the chair gave the
committee a brief about the agendas and the approach they should follow while
making the report which was the committee's main goal." Each delegation was
called upon to give their views on those set agendas and to pin point three most
important agendas. The committees discussed important international issues such
as Strengthening Regional Arrangements in Africa, Enhancing Robust Mandates to
Deal with Complex Crisis, Enhancing the Use of Technology in Peacekeeping
Missions and more.
Each committee was divided into sub groups to discuss
and create a working paper to formulate a draft resolution. The groups later
merged their working papers which were sent for final editing from the Dias.
Last day of the conference saw delegates giving their closing remarks and
heading towards the voting process, which was kept secret due to stringent
policies. Following which, the resolution was anonymously passed by the
committee. Rushil quickly sums up his experience at the conference with these
words, "...these 4 days were truly remarkable and full of learning. On the last
day we attended the closing ceremony at the UN headquarters which had some truly
inspiring speeches given by some of the people who influence today's world."
Filled with gratitude towards their school Presidium, our shining stars
together thanked, Honorable Chairperson of Presidium, Mrs Sudha Gupta, for
opening the flood gates of golden opportunities for them through NMUN! In
Siana's words "...I am grateful to every single person who's ever been a part of
my MUN journey so far and would like to thank them with utmost felicity and glee
for helping me being who I am. I certainly believe, my school Presidium has
played a prominent role in introducing NMUN into my life..."
Feeling
short of words they expressed that they cannot thank their Teachers and Mentors
enough for making their dream come true. Like Prarthita says, "I have earned a
lot from this conference; friendships, knowledge, love from professor Hulme and
his family... I promise you that I will never let you down! I hope to work with
them again in PMUN 2015!"
The eventful NMUN sojourn has helped Presidians
to develop into future intellectuals. The twelve day trip proved to be an
experience of a lifetime for them. With such valuable experience under their
belts our potential leaders are all set to make a meaningful difference in this
world.
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