Do you ever wish to lead the nation? MUN Have you ever wondered what it would be like to represent an entire nation? What was your feeling when you wrote that essay “If I could be the Prime Minister…”
What if you are told that you can experience all that in your current position? Yes, you can, the evolution of the concept of MUN has made it possible for people, especially the students into schools and colleges to step into the shoes and decide the future course of the world in simulative sessions of the United Nations.
Model United Nations, or commonly, known as MUN is a replication of the United Nations in which participants who are referred to as delegates or ambassadors and are assigned various countries. Committees are simulated most of which are either organ of the United Nations or international forums. Most of these committees have a pre-determined agenda on which participants deliberate during the course of the conference. With the spread of MUNs globally, committees have been set up which represent regional bodies and discuss regional issues.
Participants gain experience in regards to diplomacy, MUN geopolitics, and the working of the United Nations. Participants are expected to learn the skills of analysis, reflection, judgment, leadership, alliance, and critical thinking through the means of negotiations and debate as the delegates engage in committee sessions.
All the committees come up with a resolution at the end of the conference which consists of solutions to the agenda which had been altercated MUN during the discourse of the committee. The debates during the discourse of the debates are enriching and provide the youth with a platform to showcase their talent in nation-building and policymaking.
While the world has seen leaders who have taken nations from level zero to superpowers but in the recent times but in the modern world we need leaders who can step up at younger ages and provide long term goals to sustain the societies and economies of the digital age and MUN can prove to be a staircase for channelizing the zeal of the young leaders at higher stages.
Nepotism in politics can also be tackled as state-sponsored youth parliaments and MUNs can act as a recruiting drive for political parties. Such state-backed conferences will also ensure inclusion as a youth even from the deprived backgrounds could participate in these events.
In the context of India, MUNs have remained an event exclusively for the higher middle-class as generally high participation fees act as a barrier for mass participation. There remains a vacant space for a platform that teaches policy-making and administration from a bigger perspective.
