Solan: The three-day long 7th edition of the Model United Nations Conference, well known as SNAMUN’24, ended with fanfare at The Lawrence School, Sanawar. The theme of this students’ conference was “Where are we Going?”; in which over a 100 students from nine schools located across the country participated to deliberate on the burning global issues including war and conflict, violence, dictatorship, financial meltdown, human trafficking and acute food crisis. The participating schools were: Army Public School- Dagshai, Daly College- Indore, Hyderabad Public School-Begumpet, Mayo College-Ajmer, Mayo College Girls’ School-Ajmer, Pinegrove School-Solan, St. Kabir Public School-Chandigarh, St. Xavier’s Sr. Secondary School-Sirsa and the host school The Lawrence School, Sanawar.
The 7th edition of the Model United Nations, well known as SNAMUN’24, commenced with Gayatri Sud, Secretary General, banging the gavel and declaring it open. The opening ceremony began with a cultural dance and melodious rendition of Saraswati Vandana, followed by screening of powerful and poignant video on the theme that set the context providing food for thought to the young participants. The participants were divided into five committees. While the United Nations Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence suggested inclusive approaches towards global governance of Artificial Intelligence with potential risks and threats, the United Nations General Assembly-SOCHUM intensely deliberated on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with special emphasis on acute food crisis. The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) analyzed the dynamics of human smuggling and trafficking on routes to the Central Mediterranean and suggested effective policy measures to counter the same. The committee on European Union brainstormed on the caused behind financial meltdown in Europe and suggested measures to counter the euro-zone debt crisis. The fifth and perhaps the most interesting committee was the Committee on Parliament of United Kingdom which was further divided into the UK Cabinet and India Cabinet. The students of these two committees went back to the pre-independence era and impersonated as the leaders of those days to discuss the future course of action for British India 1947.
The Chief Guest of the Closing Ceremony function was Mr. Ashish Butail, Chief Parliamentary Secretary of Himachal Pradesh. Referring to the video screened at the closing ceremony and his interactions with the members of the conference secretariat, Mr. Butail said, “Undoubtedly the world we live in today needs to become more civil, violence free, equitable and just. In view of this, a conference of this kinds becomes highly important where young minds come to deliberate on key issues and policy matters after doing intensive research. I am very confident that the future of India is in good hands.” Congratulating the winners and complimenting each and every participant of the conference, he further added, “Be humble when you win and be graceful while you concede, as these virtues will help you become good leaders tomorrow. Srishti Priya, Aayan Gautam, Siya Shukla(all three from The Lawrence School, Sanawar), Veer Vikram Kochhar of Mayo Boys, Rajshree Tayal of St. Xaviers-Sirsa, and Aryaman Gupta of St. Kabir- Chandigarh, were declared best delegates of their respective committees. The Secretary General Best Delegate of the Conference award went to Siddham Goyal of St. Xaviers-Sirsa who represented Japan in the third committee of the United Nations General Assembly named- Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM). The audience erupted with joy when The Best Delegation Award went to The Lawrence School, Sanawar. However, following the old tradition of the School, the host school gracefully passed on the trophy to the runner-up school, Mayo College Ajmer. Proposing a vote of thanks, the Headmaster, Mr. Himmat Singh Dhillon concluded the event saying, “The innovative yet practical minds at work during the course of this three days long conference have given us hope that that even if the world is not going in the most desirable direction presently, the world will certainly be going in a better direction characterized by enduring peace and justice under the care these future leaders.”
