Keeping all the failures aside, how the 193 countries of the world work together to maintain world peace and security through an international organisation called the United Nations (UN) is a serious thing to explore. The member states of the UN do this by sending qualified representatives of the state to the United Nations and its various organs and by using diplomatic relations.
The Model United Nations (MUN) is an academic simulation of the UN that gives the students an idea of citizenship, communication, and multilateral diplomacy. During the MUN conferences, the students take charge as foreign diplomats and work for three or four days on various agendas. International problems are solved by investigating, debating, and advisingdeliberately.
Similar to the UN, various committees are formed at the MUN and the students who take up the diplomatic responsibilities of the member states are called 'delegates.' First, before the formal competition begins on the committee's proposed agenda, all delegates state the position of their own state in what is called a 'position paper.'After that, main activities of the competition begin with a 'plenary session' where guests speak.
At the end of the plenary session, the sessions of all the committees begin under the control of an 'executive body' consisting of a chairperson, a vice chairperson and a director. Delegates can raise various motions or proposals on the agenda given in the committee session or session. Delegates are given the opportunity to select a motion through voting. Then the highest voted motion is discussed by the delegates and supervised by the committee over some time.
General Speaker List (GSL), Moderated Caucus (Mod) and Unmoderated Caucus (Unmod)-- these three methods are used over three to four days to prepare working papers. On the last day of the committee session, a draft resolution must be prepared where the delegates use the policy and diplomatic relations of their respective states.
A committee session may have one or more draft resolutions. A draft resolution is passed by a majority vote among the delegates present, which is later presented as the final resolution by the committee chairperson at closing plenary.
"It's a great opportunity to learn about diplomacy, international relations and world politics in MUN. I learnt some great research hacks for my topic and the sessions helped me to have proper knowledge about the UN. But the registration fees seem too high for a conference of just two/three days," remarked Rukiya Hassan, a university student with several MUN experiences in her possession.
Although the Model United Nations was first held in Bangladesh in 2002, it became popular among the students later in the 2010s. BANMUN, DUNMUN, JUMUN, BUPMUN, etc. are prominent MUN events in the country among the best universities. There are some International Model United Nations (IMUN) which are also a great way to create a network across the globe. During the Covid-19 pandemic, some MUNs have gone online.
Abdullah Hasan Sayed, chairman of Student Advisory Panel of BUP Global Affairs Council (BUPGAC) shared how MUN helps in preparing for the future.
"MUN gives the opportunity to brush up public speaking ability, research and negotiating capabilities. It also helps to practice leadership. One can easily adopt soft skills that are required in the 21st century job market by participating in MUNs."
BUPGAC recently organised BUPIMUN 2020. The event was organised online and it was a daunting task to have things done successfully amid pandemic situations.
Mr Abdullah said regarding the event, "Our objective was to bring out creative and new ideas from the young generation to combat pandemic in future. With more than 200 participants, debating on global issues over online platforms, BUPGAC has given a seamless experience like never before."
MUN helps students become confident while updating them about foreign policy and diplomacy of different countries. At the same time, it creates a huge network of friends and mentors. Moreover, those with a teamwork mentality can win awards and recognitions including the Best Delegate Award, Outstanding Delegate Award, Special Mention Award, Best Position Paper Award, etc.
The writer is a student of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP).
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