GIIS Tokyo held its very first MUN on 22nd and 23rd of August, 2020. The event was arranged virtually keeping in mind the COVID pandemic.

The event was taken up primarily by the prospective IBDP students as a part of their CAS work. Two students from Grade IGCSE 10 were also a part of the core team.

The idea to start the MUN was suggested by Principal Ms. Madhu Khanna. The initiative would provide an opportunity to collaborate and productively work with different people. It also imbies a solution related approach in students' minds while dealing with a challenge.

Teachers-in-charge :
Ms. Kavita Patil (CAS Coordinator).
Mr. Hiranmoy Gupta (CAS Advisor and Supervisor)
Additional support was provided by Ms.Sweta Basu, Scholar of Pondicherry Central University, India.

The team started preparing for the MUN towards the beginning of July. It began by creating an email address for the MUN ([email protected]).

Students in charge created a poster to advertise the MUN, and posted these posters in social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook. It was interesting to see followers in a short span of time. Social Media

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Global Indian International School, Tokyo

Username: giistkymun. Next step was creating a web link. Website link:

https://sites.google.com/view/giis-tokyo-mun/home.

Before school ended, on the 16th of July, the student organizers held an information session to inform students about what MUN is, why they should participate, how they can enroll, etc.

On the 30th and 31st of July, in the middle of summer break, the student organizers held orientation sessions for interested students. These orientation sessions were held to teach students how to prepare for MUN. Day 1 of the orientation session consisted of:

• ?  How to research (by Dhvani Patil)

• ?  The Rules of Procedure (by Ria Deshpande) Day 2 of the orientation session consisted of:

• ?  Writing in MUN

  • ?  Working papers (by Stacy Ibuki)

  • ?  Resolutions (by Bibek Thapa)

• ?  Speaking in MUN

  • ?  General Speakers List (by Kunal Hiwale and Bala Abinav)

  • ?  Position Papers (by Neha Nibu)

    Not all the students could make it to these sessions, so the recordings were posted on the GIIS Tokyo MUN website. It was made sure the students knew this by repeatedly mentioning it on social media.

There was one committee in the MUN - the UNSC – The United Nations Security Council.
Number of delegates were ten.
Eight students were from grades 8 to 11 from GIIS Tokyo.

The agenda for the committee was, ‘the impact of cyber-terrorism on global security and policies to combat it’.

 

On the first day, the conference started at 9 a.m.
There wasan informal, brief introduction of the organising team and the participants.
Ms. Madhu Khanna and Ms. Kavita Patil were present at the opening session.
Mr. Hiranmoy Gupta and Ms. Shweta Basu also joined the conference. They all served as an audience in the conference.

The General Speakers List was refreshing to listen to. All the delegates brought different ideas and viewpoints to the table, and they were very eager to participate. A total of 3 moderated caucuses were held on the first day and one unmoderated caucus that extended long enough to last for 40 minutes.

The conference ended at noon with a delegation eager to return the next day.

On the second day, the conference re-opened at 10 a.m.
A short address was made by Ms. Kavita Patil acknowledging the efforts of our Principal Ms. Madhu Khanna in initiating this GIIS Tokyo MUN and for her constant support and advice to the students. Ms. Shweta Basu’s inputs and help to the organising team was also acknowledged since the participating students should know of the backstage work involved in the organising of this event.

One moderated caucus was held before the delegates began working on introducing working papers and draft resolutions.
Two working papers were introduced, but only one draft resolution was created.

The delegation unanimously voted for this resolution, but one friendly amendment was made before the final version was passed.

Ms. Sweta Basu addressed the students at the end of the conference, and Mr. Hiranmoy Gupta made a closing remark.
At the end of the event, all moved on to a fun photo session and closed the conference on a happy and optimistic note.

After the voting, the Press held interviews with each of the delegates. She asked them a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 questions regarding their country’s experience with cyberterrorism and their policies.
The delegates remained in perfect character throughout these interviews, even choosing not to provide answers if they were against their country policy. It was especially impressive, considering that most of these delegates were first-timers.

 

The committee shared their views and thanked all the delegates via an email for their valuable time and participation. Certificates of participation were also issued to all the participants and the executive members.
The photos taken during the MUN, and an anonymous feedback form for feedback from the participants has been shared.

[When asked how we, as organizers, could improve]

“Start the event at a later time, maybe after lunch for example.”

“It wasn’t the organizers’ fault or anything, but I was just wondering how we should react when no one’s talking during the conference.”

When the Executive Board was asked for their input and experiences, this is what they said:

“The MUN went a lot better than I was initially expecting. Considering almost all the participants were first-timers, I was incredibly impressed with how well they did, both in preparation and research, as well as their performance during the conference. As a member of the Executive Board, I think we all were pretty nervous but managed once we got into the flow of the conference. Hopefully, we can take all the experience of this MUN and channel it into making the next one even better.” - Ria Deshpande (Tech Support)

“While I was judging and analysing the performance of the delegates, I was greatly impressed by the formal diplomacy displayed by them throughout the duration of the conference, especially since a majority of the delegates did not have previous experience. This made me thoroughly enjoy my experience as a member of the Executive Board and has taught me a lot, and I hope that the valuable experience that we received will allow us to carry out similar events in the future.” - Neha Nibu (Judge)

“As a member of the Executive Board, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference up until it ended. I felt really happy and excited to see all of the delegates coming up with such great ideas and solutions and helping us make this event a success. It was really a great experience and I want to say a ‘good job and very well done to all the delegates who participated’. They all were really good considering it was their first time for most of them and we are looking forward to them joining us in our next future events as well.” - Bibek Thapa (Vice-Chair)

Student organizing committee:

• Bala Abinav - IBDP Year 1

• Bibek Thapa - IBDP Year 1

• Kunal Hiwale – IBDP Year 1

• Ria Deshpande - IBDP Year 1

• Stacy Ibuki - IBDP Year 1

• Dhvani Patil - IGCSE 10

• Neha Nibu - IGCSE 10