BRITMUN VII: A Legacy of Discussion and Co-operation

BRITMUN VII: A legacy of discussion and co-operation.

In 1945, countries flocked together after recently dismantling the League of Nations, to create an international body that attempts to maintain peace and security: The United Nations. To this date, this orginsation continues to remain a symbol of multipolarity, of equity and of deciphering complex international quandaries. With 193 member states and 6 organs with a range of different specialised functions that dabble in a variety of international relations, the United Nations remains pertinent in modern times to many people affected by a diverse range of issues such as seeking asylum, human right violations and threats to global security. In 1947, a liberal arts institute in Pennsylvania discovered a way to integrate the youth in this highly acclaimed political institution.

Just like that, Model United Nations was born out of Swarthmore College. Soon after in the 50s, high brow universities such as Harvard and Berkeley began introducing Model United Nations to their universities. Only a decade later, the commencement of THIMUN in 1968 exploded Model United Nations on a global scale, turning a unique extracurricular into a global extravaganza. MUN is a huge phenomenon for student extracurriculars not just worldwide, but has become a growing community of international relation fanatics across Bahrain as well. Just 8 years ago, the first ever British School of Bahrain Model United Nations began in our schools, and ever since then the love for MUN has been uncontrollable!

This year, BRITMUN VII came alive on the 9th and 10th of April through the screens of people across schools in Bahrain after a disappointing cancellation last year because of Covid-19. Secretary General Saniya Rahman and Deputy Secretary General Leenah Asim brought the conference to life with a theme that is extremely influential in our modern world: nuclear warfare. With councils ranging from nuclear explosion trials, to safeguarding measures as well as other important issues such as humanitarian crises and policy discussions, BRITMUN VII was very much a ‘model’ in that sense of the multifaceted nature of the United Nations.

DSG, Leenah Asim says “our main goals was to educate and encourage our youth to participate” and how the two worked together for “the last 3 years” in order to bring this conference to life. Despite BRITMUN VII being over, the experience has surely opened up perspectives of numerous individuals, as well as encouraging them to participate in values and society to become educated about the world around them. MUN is not just a quick sentence in a personal statement but rather a learning experience that Mihika Vishwesh, chair of IAEA describes as “learn(ing) about numerous skills that you can acquire” from this experience.

Discussing and detailing practical solutions for global issues not only creates critical thinking and confidence skills, but also raises awareness and education in an extremely productive way. Not only are young adults learning about issues, but they are also working with people of contrasting perspectives to cooperate and create solutions for these problems. Secretary General, Saniya Rahman speaks on the weekend as an “electric experience” as she proudly reflects on the “ecstatic chairs” and delegates writing “comprehensive resolutions”.

As the weekend ended, the BRITMUN VII team said their farewells as we all apprehensively await a new BRITMUN conference next year!

For highlights of the BRITMUN VII conference, go to @britmun.vii on Instagram and check out the story highlights!

By Kaviesh Kinger 12A