A Fairer World

Model United Nations has a rich history, being almost 70 years old and conducted by various institutions worldwide. It is a popular extracurricular activity that fosters crucial 21st-century skills such as diplomacy, critical thinking, and knowledge of current affairs. A powerful tool to create innovative solutions for solving pressing international issues and a medium for students to form everlasting friendships, it is no surprise that hundreds of thousands of students participate in MUN simulations.

The Millennium School, Dubai, hosted its annual Inter-House Model United Nations competition this year on the 19th and 20th of June. Open to grades 6-12, each house was required to send two boys and two girls each for the five different committees present: namely, United Nations Security Council (UNSC), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), General Assembly 3 (GA3), World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). IHMUN was split into five sessions, during which delegates were required to debate on the predetermined topics.

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An opening ceremony was hosted by the school’s MUN Club at 9 am that Monday morning, with welcome speeches by Madhav Sangeeth and Breeklyn Hannah, the President and Vice-President of the club respectively. It served the purpose of introducing the chairs of each organization and featured a moving performance by TMS’s acapella group as well. Delegates subsequently filed into the venues allocated for each committee, and the event kicked off in earnest. Students presented captivating speeches depicting the stance of their respective countries on the issue at hand, often providing scathing criticisms of past inaction by other nations. As they deliberated on topics ranging from nuclear security to counterfeit medicines, students raced to mitigate crises hurled at them by the Crisis Committee, including the alleged shooting of an Iranian governor by a French spy, and the discovery of illegal military choppers containing contraband. Navneeth Nair, a student at Middlesex University Dubai and the Secretery-General of the first ever MDXMUN was the keynote speaker. He toured the numerous committees and occasionally instigated debates while playing the part of a delegate, enabling students to show off their prowess in critical thinking and analytical skills. Throughout all this, each council critiqued and ultimately put into effect resolutions made by the delegates themselves with original solutions to tackling the issues at hand.

Every participant gave the conference their all, and it was their combined efforts that propelled Autumn to the first position, earning the house the overall trophy. They were closely followed by Winter, Summer, and finally Spring. Congratulations to the delegates for their outstanding performance, and a huge thank you to the MUN club and Ms. Edwina Rodrigues, the teacher-in-charge, for organizing such a successful event!

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