Summit Manipal-MMXVI

When the plaque cards were raised and global issues discussed, the curiosity of the mind gave the world an idea to change it.

The 9th edition of Summit Manipal, one of country’s oldest and most respected MUNs, proved once again that it was a successful stimulation of the United Nations. This year the event extended its support to promote the He For She campaign, a gender equality initiative by the United Nations. The three-day event witnessed a diverse yet unified crowd that aimed at finding a way to combat current global issues and making the world a better place. Similar to the United Nations, the delegates were organized into seven committees which were: United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC), United Nations Human Rights Commission(UNHCR), United Nations Security Council(UNSC), World Health Organization(WHO), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and International Press Meet(IPM). Each committee functioned on an agenda and planned to accomplish a goal by the end of the MUN.

1. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA): Special Political and Decolonization Committee

Chaired by the very articulate Darsh Goelccha, the main agenda of the committee was “Demilitarization of the Outer Space”. The first day at UNGA SPECPOL showcased the lack of knowledge the delegates possessed. Though the committee came up with an interesting agenda, the day passed with delegates just defining the outer space and its entities. The second day saw a lesser number of delegates, but better research and resources. The day was pretty monotonous in general and revolved around few unimportant motions. However, the third day saw extensive debates and intriguing discussions in the form of various moderated and unmoderated caucuses, such as watching the delegate of South Korea take on the delegate of DPRK (North Korea) with an example using a Bisleri bottle (which he called “Holy Water”). A proposed twitter handle under the name “love_isil” by a delegate made everyone’s day.

Since the committee majorly comprised delegates having their first experience at MUNs, there were times when it became difficult for the delegates to adjourn the session even for a tea break! In all, this committee saw a lot of verbal action and was successful in achieving the aim of passing a resolution.

2. United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)

Chaired by Mr. Atamvir Singh Multani, United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate played their significant role of keeping up with Summit Manipal’s theme of “Nolite Malum”. Unlike the other committees of the United Nations, the resolutions of UNSC are binding to each nation. With just about a dozen delegates present, the committee saw a slight different scenario during the event. The agenda of UNSC was “Measures to Suppress and Criminalize All Forms of Support for Terrorist Organizations”.

Like everywhere else, day one at UNSC too brought out the lack of knowledge and research in the delegates. The delegates initially needed help getting used to the proper terms and procedures of the Model UN. The sluggish committee could just come up with definitions of terrorism on the first day. The second day saw a whole new level of enthusiasm in the delegates with the improved research. It was the Palestine refugee crisis which kept the committee alive and happening. Multiple updates on the crisis elevated the intricacies of the deliberations. The crisis was gradually solved and the committee moved on to the main agenda. The final day introduced the draft resolutions in the committee which were then talked upon by the delegates in an unmoderated caucus.The committee discussed the use of ICT by terrorists and how to curb them as well. There were intense debates and discussions at the UNSC and the committee reached a successful end.

3. International Press Meet

Imagine a crisis situation where a journalist whose prime duty is to bring to light the truth of happenings to the world is arrested for doing his job citing rules that only curb the freedom of speech and right to information of the people worldwide. International Press Meet was an innovative idea successfully implemented in a span of three days of the Summit. The committee housed delegates who represented various International news agencies like The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera and BBC. The motto of the committee was to discuss the freedom of press in emergency situations. The committee initially saw a mediocre participation from the delegates as the delegation comprised mostly of first timers. With constant support and encouragement from the executive board, the committee witnessed an uplift in the participation and enthusiasm of the delegates. Discussion of the above mentioned crisis situation and further updates on the same added momentum to the working of the committee.

4. UNHCR

The office of United Nations High Commission for Refugees also known as the UN Refugee Agency is mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the United Nations itself. With the ongoing Syrian Refugee crisis, the committee was home to fierce debate and unaligned perceptions. The main aim of this committee was to finalize on a refugee migration plan that would be most suitable for accommodating the given amount of refugees in the given situation.

The delegates of the respective countries had to negotiate with the other state representatives to incorporate their resources thus reaching on the stage where they had a joint directive. In the UNHCR the participating nations had to come to mutual terms with each other about the migrant crisis so that they coordinate with each other and help the migrating innocent civilians find an entry to safe zones in the respective countries.

5. World Health Organization

The WHO is a special agency formed to tackle world health issues across the globe, collaborating with local governments to better provide aid and awareness. The committee was called to discuss the agendas, combating HIV/AIDS in the African continent and also the distribution of medical amenities in disaster hit zones. Chairing the committee was the articulate and level headed Yash Karunakaran. He hit the ground running by elucidating the rules of procedure and helped usher in the agenda to be discussed, the measures to be taken to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. The deliberation and discussions on the topics of unsafe sex, AIDS management by concentrating resources on infrastructure, economy, and proliferation of medical aid to the affected were a few of the ideas that came to light. One particular point brought to attention was by the delegate from the Spanish government, claiming bestiality and sexual frustration in the populous as a major cause for the proliferation of the disease.

6. UNODC

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime a committee formed by the UN to combat the proliferation of illicit drugs, the systematic prevention and breakdown of human trafficking and providing assistance to member states in thwarting terrorism. The committee was called in to order.It was chaired by the eccentric and outspoken Harishankar Padmanabhan. The agendas for the committee to be discussed were the issues of illicit drug trafficking and human trafficking with reference to the large scale migrant smuggling in parts of the Middle East. The delegates discussed various problems and counter measures for controlling drugs’ infiltration. The executive board did an exceptional job by explaining the functioning of the committee as there were a lot of first timers in the committee. The committee was successful in engaging every delegate in a speech or a debate making it a pleasant journey for the delegates and a smooth sail for its functioning.

7. N.A.T.O

NATO i.e. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is an alliance of 28 countries formed in 1949. The purpose of the Alliance is to safeguard freedom and security by political and military means in accordance with the UN Charter that states the morals that are shared values of democracy, human rights and rule of law. Continuing objective of a just and peaceful order in Europe is the duty of all the participating members of the alliance. The reason for its origination was the basic act of self defence of all the nations facing a foreign threat.

The participating delegates were allocated different countries and had to work together to pass resolutions in order to solve the crisis given to them. Each individual county can make an individual directive in order to secure its countries interest or it can form an internal alliance with other countries and pass a joint NATO directive. The latter being more practical as the reason of NATO’s existence is the need of cooperation of the different nations all around the globe.

CLOSING CEREMONY: –

Putting an end to the past 3 days of absolute MUNing experience, Summit Manipal MMXVI held its closing ceremony on 20 March 2016. Summit Manipal was jointly organized by AIESEC this time. The aim of this summit was to create responsible, entrepreneurial, leaders for tomorrow. The event was started with an introductory video by AIESEC and an amazing and nostalgia inducing after-movie, reliving the MUN moments.

Next, the award ceremony took place, wherein, the best delegate, the verbal mentions, special mentions and honorary mentions for each committee was announced. Delegates were praised for their diplomacy, logical arguments, and meaningful presentation of points. Awards for the 7 committees namely WHO, UNGA, UNFCR, NATO, UNODC, IPM, and UNSC were distributed to the outstanding performers. The executive board also shared their sweet and salty experiences regarding the functioning of the committees, and the immense hard work involved in making it successful. Other than the delegates, the working committee, and LOT’s International Press’s humungous effort during these three days was also acknowledged and appreciated. Awards were given away for special recognition as a photo journalist or writer, best reporter and writer, etc.

The event closed with LOT’s president, Rishav Dutta Choudhury’s vote of thanks. His attempt was to improve the debate quality and content, in order to create an impressive MUNing experience. He was elated to announce that the aim was achieved. The event ended with a superb band performance.

Manipal is surely looking forward to the next summit.

-Contributed by Ayush Agrawal, Diptark Bose, Shravani Vyakarnam and Sudhanshu Kadre for MTTN.