Model UN at work

Brainchild of the founder member of Ryan Group of Schools A F Pinto and director Grace Pinto, the Indian Model United Nations or INMUN conference provides students with the opportunity to act as diplomats in decision-making and conflict resolution at the United Nations. The fourth edition of the INMUN was recently organised in the Capital from September 2 to 4 where 720 students from 111 schools across the country and from nine countries engaged in some high quality debate on economic, social and environment issues related to today''s world.
The three-day event witnessed issues like role of science and technology in disarmament and international security and risk of nuclear proliferation in the middle east at the different committees of the United Nations, which included the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council.Issues on building a peaceful and better world though sports and the Olympic ideals, emergency international assistance to war-stricken areas, crime prevention and criminal justice including international drug control, administration of Iraq and implementation of United Nations resolutions were discussed too during this three-day affair.
The principal of the Ryan International School, Faridabad Mamta Wadhwa remarked, "Students from different schools who were assigned different countries represented their respective countries at the different bodies of the UN to discuss various issues. The best part is that students were given the role of international diplomats, and they have to put their own views aside and embrace the foreign policy of the nation they have been assigned to. This allows students to get a broader perspective on international relations and appreciated the points of views of others. They learn about the conduct of formal meetings and the use of parliamentary procedure too."
Arnab Mukherjee of Ryan International School, Noida who performed the role of secretary general at the INMUN 2004 said, "We have been preparing for this event for last few months. We kept ourselves updated on different international issues during all this time and even read the rule book of the UN to understand the functioning of different bodies like the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council."
Like the United Nations in New York, the INMUN had a world press too, which came out with a daily journal ''MUNINDIA- 2004 during the three-day event. There was a chief editor, editors, reporters, photographers, cartoonist and people at the desktop printing. The event witnessed delegates drafting resolutions during the conference.