Political instability in the Middle East, food shortages surfacing in Africa and a debt crisis in Greece that nearly destabilized the European economy are only some of the mainstream issues that have plagued the world in the recent past. With terrorism on the rise and issues such as poverty and climate change receiving insufficient attention, it is clear that we continue to live in uncertain and tumultuous times. Often, such turbulent events provoke us to ask ourselves as to what we can do to make a difference.
Youth Model United Nations 2011, organized by the Rotaract Club of Colombo North, gave the participants the opportunity to go beyond just asking such questions. It gave them the chance to not only consider but also analyze and envision solutions for the issues that face the world at large.
The Conference, organized around the theme of ‘Respecting Rights. Respecting Lives.’ were felt to be appropriate as Sri Lanka is emerging from a war, the cause of which could be traced back to a failure in recognizing the rights and needs of a segment of society. The Conference brought together undergraduates from both local and foreign Universities including - University of Oxford UK, University of Nottingham Malaysia, University of Colombo, University of Kalaniya, University of Sri Jayawardanapura, University of Moratuwa, University of Jaffna, University of South Eastern, Achievers Lanka Business School, American National College, Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology(APIITT Law school and Business School), Royal Institute of Colombo, Mercury Institute Colombo, but also delegates who hailed from diverse social and economical backgrounds. The delegates were given the opportunity to listen to another’s perspective and respond not with ignorance but with understanding.
Furthermore, delegates had to promote and defend the views of the nation that they represented even if they did not agree with it. This developed their ability to look at global issues from another’s perspective and understand the justifications behind such views.
The first day’s proceedings included giving each delegate the opportunity to express their country’s views on a particular topic via the speaker’s list, discuss sub-issues under the topic via moderated caucuses and finally draft resolutions to these global problems during unmoderated caucus sessions. The second day’s proceedings saw delegates put forth the resolutions to the committees and these resolutions were debated extensively and finally voted upon.
The topics discussed during the Conference by each Committee were of particular relevance to modern times. The situation in Sri Lanka [regarding the submission of the Darusman Report] was such a topic which provided delegates the opportunity to debate the implications of the Report and the progress made by Sri Lanka since then. This also allowed the delegates to discuss the Report presented to Parliament by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission [the LLRC Report] which sparked much debate and interest in the Security Council.
Furthermore, delegates also debated and passed resolutions on tackling global issues such as corruption, energy security, the role of genetically modified food and cluster munitions. Topics pertaining to public debt sustainability, energy security and genetically modified foods were felt to be important in light of the debt crisis in Greece which posed a serious threat to the stability of the European economy as well as the implications of the recent trends of global climate change and the increasingly alarming food crisis that is beginning to emerge.
Each committee discussed and debated two given topics and put forth resolutions under these topics for the consideration of the committee. Furthermore, they strived to strengthen resolutions prior to passing them by clarifying certain clauses and proposing amendments to them. This activity allowed all delegates in each committee to participate and voice their opinions.
The Awards Distribution during the Closing Ceremony recognized more than 15 delegates who excelled in their respective committees and were awarded Best Delegate and Higher Commendation Awards. Amidst all the awards given for delegates who excelled in diplomatic skill and finesse, the nominees for the most prestigious award of Best University were University of Nottingham, Malaysia and Royal Institute, Colombo of which the University of Nottingham, Malaysia emerged triumphant. |
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