Bhavans organizes ‘Model United Nations -2016’

All the world is a stage and Bhavans became a stage of the world on November 3, 2016. The third edition of Bhavan’s Model United Nations a one-and-ahalf-day event, was convened at Indian Educational School, Kuwait (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) on November 3, 2016 with a formal inaugural ceremony graced by Josephine Moss, the UN Co-ordination Specialist in the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Kuwait.

The proceedings of the day rolled on with the traditional lighting of the lamp followed by the UN Anthem. In her address, Josephine enlightened the gathering with a thought provoking speech on ‘Sustainable Development Goals.’ (SDG-2030) of the UN which had indeed a tranquilizing effect on the audience. She gratefully and appreciatively mentioned the Honorable Amir of Kuwait’s generous contributions of 1.5 billion $ towards the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Josephine also called for a collaborative effort by the student community and the UN, for achieving a society which is technically advanced and humanitarian value based. The need of the hour demands a world of harmoniously knitted souls to make the world a better place to live in, to extend the extinction of man on the planet. She also opined that there can be deliberations on ‘human rights violations’ in the forthcoming editions of BMUN. She emphasized the fact that today’s youth, the future diplomats should have the ability to solve problems, and to shoulder responsibilities for which these kinds of simulations of the UN pave a path. She applauded the painstaking efforts taken by the Bhavan’s MUN Club for hosting such a meaningful deliberation at Bhavan’s BMUN 2016. Principal T Premkumar presented Josephine with a memento and expressed his gratitude for accepting the invitation and speaking to the delegates.

The ceremony gathered momentum with ‘Gavel Handing Over’ by T Premkumar, the principal, Indian Educational School, Kuwait. The simulation witnessed a strong clash of ideologies of the 48 potential contestants representing various schools in Kuwait.

The third edition was diverse by all means as there were four parallel committees such as The General Assembly deliberating on Brexit and its aftermath and on NonProliferation Treaty (NPT), The Historic Security Council debating on Kargil War with a freeze period of May 1999, ICC (International Cricket Council) an unconventional committee, which is the first of its kind on a UN platform discussing ‘the Impact Of Premier Leagues on Cricket’, last but not the least the World Media Council ‘WMC’ where students played the role of the reporters and presented their reports of their respective committees at regular intervals.

Dr Prathap Unnithan, a toastmaster par excellence, currently serving in the dental causality department at Amiri Hospital, Kuwait, adjudged the speaking skills of the delegates. Summit of excellence was put up by the MUN core committee. The committee was adjourned by 3 in the afternoon of the first day with updates leading to its next day’s progress.

Day two of the event started sharp at 8:30 in the morning with the delegates back with a bang shaking off the early wintry numbness, determined to climb up the podium holding the coveted trophy high up to the smiling November sun. The committee proceedings had the framing and voting of the draft resolutions officially drafted by the different blocs within the committee.

By 11am, the official proceedings of the valedictory function started, which had Mahesh Iyer, the principal, SMART Indian School, Kuwait as the guest of honor. Sriee Aswathaman, a member of the organizing committee BMUN-2016 welcomed the guest of honour, the dignitaries, the delegates, the faculty advisors and the parent community to the event.

The stalwarts of BMUN 2016, the delegates came and shared their incredible experiences, and journey with BMUN. Jaidev Shriram, a delegate from FAIPS-DPS mentioned that there was no parallel to BMUN and thanked Bhavans for organizing a ‘top-notch unmatchable event.’

The much awaited moment of the event, the prize distribution ceremony was hosted by Shiv Govind Dahima, the Secretary General of BMUN -2016. The guest of honor, Mahesh Iyer, the principal, SMART Indian School Kuwait, T Premkumar, the principal, Indian Educational School Kuwait and the senior vice principal, IES, Suresh V Balakrishnan felicitated, and gave away the trophies for the Best Delegate and the Best Position Paper of each committee. The overall trophy of BMUN 2016 was bagged by FAIPS-DPS Kuwait.