Vaibhavi
Every delegate will remember his or her first speech delivered at NEIMUN, the frightening sensation in the pit of their stomach, the sweaty palms, butterflies in my stomach, and a racing pulse. It is insanely nerve-wrecking to stand in front of thirty critical, intelligent fellow delegates, brainstorming on ideas to do what grey-haired leaders at the official UN HQs often leave undone. Getting up to speak is like getting hit in a game of paintball, with every hit-or, in this case, with every speech you give-it hurts less and you become less afraid, and before you know it, you’re no longer nervous at all.
Even though NEIMUN has its MUN committee witnessing highs and lows, forging of alliances, breaking of blocs, thought provoking as well as MUNdane discussions, Model United Nations (Model UN or MUN) is more than just a mock-simulation of the structures and functions of the United Nations. It is an opportunity to mould the youth of today to generate a pool of world leaders tomorrow.
From the likes of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the famous TV personality Ryan Seacrest, many Model UN participants have become leaders in diplomacy, politics, law and media. So it would be no surprise if your high school’s most active MUN’er turns out to be the next Supreme Court Judge or the next Indian Idol.
Even though the initial encounter with the MUN culture might lead you to question the frequently used terms like ‘GSL’ and ‘lobbying’, it is actually rather simple. In Model UN, young people role-play high-level diplomats, representing the United Nations’ 193 member states. While negotiating economic crises in Zimbabwe, ensuring food security in Africa, protecting human rights in North Korea, or addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict, MUN participants acquire skills like conflict resolution, public speaking and writing, but most importantly, it brings people together.
Every delegate has their Model UN milestones that they cherish for years to come. In NEIMUN, there were many trainers, one of them was Laurabeth Goldsmith. Meeting her through this First and Premier Model UN organisation of this region- North East India International Model United Nations (NEIMUN), was that milestone for me. An enthusiastic Model UN trainer with an indomitable spirit for women empowerment, Laurabeth taught me that to be a leader means to bring out the best in others- a core principle that NEIMUN stands for.
With NEIMUN’s northeast-oriented goals, this model UN organisation seeks to create training grounds for our people, bringing us the best trainers from across the world, while emanating the belief that northeasterners today can indeed make progress by leaps and bounds to become the leaders of tomorrow.
This non-profit educational foundation, registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act of 1860, and run by enthusiastic young people from all over the Northeast, has held annual conferences in Kohima, Shillong and Guwahati. Three years on, NEIMUN has now established MUN clubs and associations across colleges and schools in Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Assam, and has also ventured beyond the Northeast, in its recent endeavor to launch the Kerala International MUN 2015, under its aegis.
In the last three years, the evolution of NEIMUN has gone from training young leaders from different cultures, religions, nationalities and backgrounds to implementing their ideas of making a positive contribution to society, thus empowering them to present solutions to global challenges.
From the know-it-all pros who jump at every opportunity to raise their placards to the witty delegate who would have his say, even if only to fight the removal of a comma in a draft resolution, a part of what makes model UN so interesting is that it is rapidly re-inventing itself. Today, many Model UN conferences hold simulations that are not UN committees. For instance, a recent MUN had an unconventional committee of the Game of Thrones- a fictional simulation where delegates represented Daenerys and Hodor amongst others.
On one hand, you might witness the delegate of USA frantically exchanging notes chits with his Russian counterpart, and on the other, you might find the Indian delegate making a secret deal with Pakistan. Besides the abundance of possibilities that Model UN acknowledges, it also teaches you how to negotiate on issues regarding your own region. NEIMUN’s principle of promoting North East India as a strategic location for cultural exchange and multilateral democracy connecting South Asian Nations, along with its core objective of binding the diverse peoples of the northeast in a single thread of togetherness and unity, adds significance to this.
In this era of globalization, being globally aware is more important than ever. We find evidence of this in the enormity of the change MUN’ing makes in the lives of students. The main reason students keep coming back to Model UN year after year is ... it’s fun! You know what they say, “Having fun in NEIMUN is MUNdatory!” See for yourself what the excitement is all about. This October, join NEIMUN 2016 in its tryst with diplomacy- ‘Bringing the world closer to the North East.’
Since one of the major goals of NEIMUN is to coordinate annual MUN conferences in different states across North East India, their annual conference for this year is scheduled to take place from the 22th to 24th of October 2016 in Dimapur, Nagaland.
To register this year, contact: L. Limaienla Aier, Secretary General, NEIMUN www.secgen.neimun@gmail.com / www.neimun.org
Vaibhavi, a student of 12th grade in Army Public School Guwahati, is the Deputy for Media and Communications Department, NEIMUN 2016.
