JAIN INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL
JIRS MUN 4.0 - MODEL UNITED NATIONS
DATE: 29, 30 & 31 Aug 19
Model United Nations is a platform for students who are interested
to come forward and engage in discussion and debate to bring forth new and
innovative solutions to crises and problems faced by the world today, and even
put forward solutions to problems that may affect humanity in the foreseeable
future. It is a stage that encourages students to step out of their ‘comfort
zone’, meet different people which leads to them being exposed to different
perspectives on global issues.
JIRS – MUN did exactly just that and much more. It was a very
calculated approach to set in stone how a Model United Nations Conference
should be held. Why and how did they accomplish this? I shall elaborate.
The theme of the MUN was Reduction, Refinement and
Replacement, which is a modified version of the famous Three R’s (Reduce, Reuse
and Recycle), a much more apt and better suited adaptation for today’s world
that is plagued by climate change. The best part of the MUN was how well they
build on this theme in subtle but very impactful ways. For one, they had
invited very accomplished environmentalists as chief guests. The speeches made
by them highlighted how every student attending the MUN had the potential to
radically change the world. They talked about the NGO’s they had formed and
elaborated on the missions undertaken to save the environment, such as the
planting of over 1.2 Lakh seed balls all over Bangalore, an accomplishment JIRS
hopes to top in the coming months. Whenever food (which was finger-licking
good) or snacks (yum) were served, only reuse-able or disposables (paper cups,
wooden spoons and forks) were used. Also, on the very first day of conference
all delegates were given a strong, sturdy and a big jute shoulder bag in which
they could carry their belongings in. Furthermore, the trophies that were
awarded to the best delegates of each committee were used to symbolize
sustainable development. They were green and white in colour and looked very
fanciful. The green highlighted the need to save the trees and the white the
need to save water and promote global peace as was highlighted during the
speech of the Head Coordinator of the MUN, Mrs. Ambuj Sharma. These subtle
things brought out the overall beauty of the school.
Now moving on to the conference itself, JIRS – MUN was held in
collaboration with the IIMUN, the agendas for all committee’s were in relation
with global sustainability. Many a delegate did not really look forward to such
agendas for the committee and were of the belief that it would not be very
interesting. However, much to everyone’s surprise this seemingly boring choice
was transformed into an experience of a lifetime. How? This again was thanks to
the Organising committee who invited a group of fantastic individuals to chair
the committees. These men and women were very friendly, approachable and highly
experienced. This gave them the ability to get the most out of every delegate
in committee. They encouraged all delegates to step up and speak no matter what
they had to say and entertained repeated questions about the Rules of
Parliament upon which the sessions were based on. This nature of the
Chairpersons of all the committees made JIRS – MUN open to delegates of all
levels of experience, those with no MUNs under their belt to those who had over
40 MUNs.
Coming to the most interesting part of all MUNs, the Press Session
and the Crisis. Crisis in committees were all very sudden and unexpected.
Starting off with the Crisis, they brought in a degree of spontaneity in
committee that was sometimes lost between the Speakers List’s and Moderated
Caucuses. This was also the time when under-researched delegates had the time
to shine. The fierce challenges, and the Provisional Speakers List that were
held during Crisis were most definitely a sight to behold. The Crisis given
were not easy to interpret and needed a lot of analysis before you could speak.
Owing to this, the Chairpersons were very understanding whenever a delegate was
lost and allowed them to have a breather and collect their thoughts which
helped them to speak their mind a bit better.
Moving on to the Press Sessions. Saying that the Secretary General
and the Director General were fierce would be a vast understatement. They
questioned delegates about every little thing that went about in their
respective countries, many a time leaving delegates in absolute silence. They
were ruthless in committee but again outside committee and during informal
sessions they were very polite and humble.
One final thing to note would be the feedback sessions that were
held at the end of the committee every day. The whole Organising Committee
would enter the room and ask delegates to openly speak about any problem one
had with the proceedings of the committee. They made sure to rectify problems
the very next day even before committee started. They were polite,
understanding and patient. Added to this you could see them making arrangements
for every little thing even after the last day of the conference which I
personally found to be quite a bit inspirational.
Overall, this MUN experience was one of a life-time and was
accommodating to each and every delegate no matter where they came from or how
much experience they had. I highly recommend and suggest all delegates to
participate in the upcoming JIRS – MUN as I believe you’d have an experience of
a lifetime.
-JAYSURYA (IB YEAR 1)
VIDEOS - 73
JIRS MUN 4.0 - OPENING CEREMONY
JIRS MUN 4.0 - CLOSING CEREMONY
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