Wayne Dyer once said, ‘When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change’. This was the fundamental idea behind the organisation of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College Model United Nations 2012(DDUCMUN 2012). Held on the 1st and 2nd of September, 2012 at the Conference Centre in North Campus, this event saw participation from more than 300 students from 200 schools and colleges in 25 cities.
The MUN committees included the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries which had their respective agendas as reforms in UN peace keeping missions, impact of climate change on Statehood, security and migration, upholding human rights in prisons and response to new sources of energy while maintaining petroleum energy viability.
The first day kicked off with one round of committee session after registrations followed by the inauguration ceremony. It started off with the lighting of the lamp by the Principal of DDUC, Dr. S K Garg, the Chief Guest for the event Dr. Sanjay Chopra, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, the Guest of Honour, Shri Tom Vadakkan, Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and the Convener of the MUN Club, Dr. Nisha Rana. The proceedings of the ceremony included addresses by Dr. Nisha Rana and the Secretary General Srishti Kapoor who declared the conference open. In the Chief Guest’s speech, Dr Sanjay Chopra spoke about his personal experiences at UN conferences with a pinch of humour while the Shri Tom Vadakkan spoke about the impact of policies formulated by one country on the rest of the world.
After a short refreshments break, the delegates were back at their committees to discuss the thought provoking agendas, through a structure that mirrored the rules followed at actual UN meets. Under the observation of the Executive Board which comprised experienced MUNers, delegates made their points backed up by thorough research and debated with representatives from other countries by raising points of inquiry and information. The committee sessions and moderated caucuses continued for the rest of the day with a lunch break in between.
The second day saw participants looking at effective solutions to address the issues in front of them. This was done through unmoderated caucuses, writing papers, drafting of resolutions and then suggesting amendments, followed by voting by the countries, interspersed with breaks in between. The evening of 2nd September saw the delegates and organising committee gather at the Main Hall for the closing ceremony of the event. To get things started, the band Autumn Home got the audience singing along as they covered popular songs like Yellow by Coldplay. After that the President, Vice President and Rapporteur of each committee announced the Best Delegate, High Commendation and Special Mention awards. “Last year DDUCMUN was a brilliant event, and they have been able to maintain the high standard once again, which is very tough to do. It is my privilege to have been associated with the DDUCMUN Club since its inception”, said Shirin Rai Gupta, a student of LSR and President of the Human Rights Council. The audience cheered for the winners enthusiastically and some even received standing ovations by fellow committee members. The evening came to a close with the Deputy Secretary General, Meenal Narula’s speech and vote of thanks.
DDUCMUN 2012 saw a huge participation of first timers. As Delegate of Netherlands in the General assembly, Akashita Sareen said, ‘DDUCMUN was the first MUN that I attended, and I was surprised at how productive the conference turned out to be. It was well organised which made the experience, for a first timer like me, extremely palpable and fun’. Her thoughts were shared by Vrinda Uppal, Delegate of Slovakia. ‘I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with fellow delegates and engaging in fruitful debating. Looking forward to the next edition!’, she said.]]>
