On May 6, 2022, JKC MUN Club members gathered to do a training crisis exercise. This is just one of several meetings held by the club, reported by members of the Kennedian press.
Symbolic and powerful; if these photographs could speak, they would tell the story of students filled with dreams and unwavering determination. Fueled by their thirst for parleys and their acute desire to externalize their tenets, the members of the Kennedian Debate Club have invested themselves body and soul in the reification of the official United Nations model of JKC. Indeed, to say that the pandemic has upended many extracurricular activities would just be calling a spade a spade, but it also allows us to recognize and appreciate even more all the efforts put in by the clubs executive team and fellow Kennedians to bring this project to fruition. Inscribed in our culture, this was the true testament of the will of our students to drive the change to which they aspire, without
ever being defeated by the situation. Even though COVID-19 stripped them of 2 years of zonal and national MUN, it could not take away their love for good old high-stakes diplomatic talks. In fact, they are not students, but esteemed delegates; it’s not arguments, it's policies, and it's not a conversation, there is a serious crisis. So please MAINTAIN DECORUM!
Timeline of JKC MUN.
· MUN discussed by the EXECUTIVES:
· February 22: The president announced to the members of the debate club that they were eager to start the JKC MUN.
· March 19: First executive meeting to discuss MUN.
· March 24: Meeting with the head of department to inform about JKC MUN.
· March 25: First meeting, Introduction to MUN.
· March 26: Second executive meeting to finalize JKC MUN schedules.
· March 27: Meeting with club leaders.
· April 8: Second Briefing - Crisis Simulation and Country Statement and draw for country formations.
· April 18: Online crisis briefing.
· April 21: 1st Crisis Training online.
· April 25: Briefing Point of Information, Opening Statements and Commissions.
· April 28: Second online training: GSL and crisis.
· May 5: Meeting to boost the spirit and enthusiasm of the MUN and finalize the participants.
· May 6: Training Session. (1st face-to-face crisis).
· May 20: 2nd Meeting with the Delegates to explain the terminologies used in MUN Debates.
Structure of the JKC MUN.
20 delegations each composed of 2 delegates, therefore composed of 2 commissions. Each committee room will have 20 delegates. Each delegation will have to prepare its national statement for the GA, which is the first day after the roll call.
The Secretary General, Harsh Purmessur, will appoint co-delegates to ensure fairness.
Briefing 1 on: Resolution, committee
Briefing 2 on: POIs, with statements and examples and associated POIs, group activity
Training (3) on how to solve questions you were not prepared for.
After briefing 1, you will get your committee room and Q1, Q2, delegation and co-delegates, where you will start working on your resolutions.
Merge session: Commission wise and GroupWise (4): first commission q1, q2.
Second commission q1, q2.
Each question will have eight delegates and they will merge the resolution, final merge, debate for/against.
Introduction to MUN.
For those not yet familiar with MUN, here is a brief prelude:
MUN began as a series of simulations; they were called the international assemblies. In 1921 the University of Oxford held the first recorded MUN conference, much prior to the founding of the United Nations in 1945 the students used to model the League of Nations. Thanks to Mir Mahmood -President of the first Oxford International Assembly, the concept of MUN was propounded in Harvard in 1922. He purposefully went abroad to bolster this concept. One year afterwards, Harvard liberal club created the first American International Assembly in 1923. The original one in Oxford ended shortly after but the Harvard one remained persistent, continuing to develop MUN worldwide.
After the end of World War 2, the United Nations was put in place. Therefore modelling League of Nations transitioned to modelling the United Nations. However to this day some model still simulate the League of Nations as part of the topics offered.
The first model United Nations filmed occurred in 1947 at Swarthmore College (Pennsylvania, United states) where a General Assembly was simulated where topics such as “establishing an international control and development of atomic energy", "conclude a treaty on disarmament" were tackled. The three oldest conferences in the world were established in the 1950s comprising of Berkeley Model
United Nations (BMUN) (1952), Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN) (1953) and Model United Nations of the Far West (MUNFW) (1951).
The popularity of High School MUN expanded drastically in the decade’s post 1950. Such popularity was blatantly advocated by the creation of THIMUN (The Hague International Model United Nations) in 1968 which still remains even in modern times one of the largest MUN conferences in the world.
The status quo of general accessibility to MUN was not as prominent back then. Eventually in 1999, the UNA-USA Global Classrooms program was created conducive to increasing accessibility to MUN. It provided crucial financial assistance to allow students limited financially to assist MUN conferences globally for free. Such allowed students from all income backgrounds to benefit from these conferences.
Preparing and participating in a MUN helps students develop leadership skills, research, writing, public speaking, and problem-solving skills. Moreover, coming up with solutions that are acceptable to a majority of the representatives also inculcates skills of negotiation, conflict resolution, and cooperation.
Some of the common benefits students experienced are:
1. Worldly Knowledge.
By participating in MUNs, the student's knowledge of the world will increase tremendously as he/she will represent a country at a ‘global’ level and interact with other delegates representing other countries.
As a delegate, the student will be required to research his/her allotted countries in-depth, analyzing and understanding their foreign policies and considering which factors would influence the behavior of the country at an international level. By studying the intricacies of the issue, one will gain practical and thorough knowledge of world affairs.
2. Confidence-Building.
A MUN involves meeting new people, interacting with unfamiliar faces, working in teams to develop resolutions to assigned tasks and to express views in a self-assured manner. From preparing for the MUNs to the discussions, debates, and resolutions made during the MUN, the entire experience will serve to boost the student’s confidence. The confidence gained will be useful in future interactions where expressing yourself in high-pressure situations is important.
3. Analytical Skills.
The MUN is an ideal place to hone analytical skills, as in a simulated environment The student will be challenged and required to solve the task after examining the concerns of the other countries, past precedents and potential solutions to come up with an acceptable resolution.
4. Problem-Solving Skills.
At its core, the MUN is based on problem-solving skills, as it places a student at the center of an organization designated to resolving global issues. Thus, learning how to identify the key components of a topic, determining factors to be kept in mind while deciding on the solution, and putting it all together to come up with a final resolution that satisfies all concerned countries , helps in improving the student’s problem-solving skills.
5. Diplomacy.
Diplomacy, or the art of negotiation, is not only restricted to conversations between two countries, but pertains to any purposeful exchange between two groups, and thus, is a very useful skill to possess. By practicing diplomacy at the MUNs, more knowledge and experience on how to conduct negotiations between two groups in a tactful and result-oriented manner can be obtained.
6. Public Speaking.
Developing efficient public speaking skills takes practice, and the MUNs provide an ideal platform where students can explore and improve their capabilities. Public speaking is an integral part of the MUNs. By expressing views and debating in front of an audience and making multiple speeches during the overall MUN event, several opportunities will be available to improve the student’s public speaking prowess.
Kennedians in the past have well performed in MUN. Let us take a trip down a memory lane and appreciate the hardwork and achievements made by our high flyers.
Year 2018
Zonal.
Bolivia best delegation (Ayush Ramsooroop, Darkhan).
Rayyan Ramjan (South Africa) best delegate in Environment commission.
Krish Darkhan (Bolivia) best delegate in 2018.
National.
Russia best delegation (Ayush, Ramjan, Woozeer, Kalah).
Ayush Ramsooroop (Russia) best delegate in UNODC.
Ayush was the first Kennedian to participate *IMUN, bringing fame and glory to us kennedians.
* IMUN stands for international model United Nations.
Year 2019
Ayush Ramsooroop was selected to be the Secretary General.
Rayyan Ramjan acted as chairperson in the environment commission.
Krish Darkhan acted as chairperson in 2019.
Zonal.
Argentina best delegation
(Ramchurn, Woogram, Issury and Moloye).
Teeruth Roy (Kuwait) best delegate in Security Council.
Harshit Purmessur (Equatorial Guinea) best delegate in environment commission.
National.
Italy best delegation
(Purmessur, Ackiah, Woogram and Teeruth).
Teeruth Roy (Italy) best delegate in Political commission.
Yann Cangy (Nicaragua) best delegate in UNICEF commission.
International MUN.
Teeruth Roy was selected.
Awarded the best delegate title at international level.
A special word to all our fellow Kennedians, let us keep the flame burning, our legacy to live on and inscribe this tradition in our very culture.
For more information about our JKC MUNNERS, check out the dedicated section on the Kennedian delegates on our website.
Written by;
Curpen Ryan (PRESIDENT OF PRESS CLUB),
Beeltah Aneekesh (ADMINISTRATOR),
Lishing Pun Denis (FINANCE DIRECTOR),
Mathoorasing Bhavish (ADVISOR).
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