Overcoming barriers: No one will be left behind at IBA’s MUNIK-VII

Seventh Model United Nations at IBA kicks off with over 1,000 delegates on Thursday

KARACHI: Nearly 1,000 delegates from around the world registered themselves for the seventh Model United Nations at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi (Munik), which commenced on Thursday at IBA's main campus.

For the four-day conference, heads of the various committees have been invited from seven countries, including Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic. The highest numbers of international delegates are from India, while delegates from within Pakistan are representing various cities from across the country.



The participants have been divided into 32 teams, each of which will focus on a different topic, which includes solving the problems of poverty, education, health and malnutrition, and gender inequality. This year's Munik theme is 'This January Leave No One Behind'.

"It is always a pleasure to interact with youngsters and see them shining bright and willing to find solutions for international issues," said chief guest Pakistan Peoples Party vice-president Senator Sherry Rehman.

She also said that today the planet is in a state of boundary-less wars and countries have threats from the same enemies. "All of you should be committed to peace-building and each of you should build your own block of peace around you," she advised.



Talking about the changes and transformations the city has seen, she said, "You are not living in the city that I spent my childhood in". Rehman remembered how she used to ride her bicycle in the streets but today it is difficult for youngsters to roam around freely.

Presenting the bigger picture to the young delegates, Rehman emphasised that the world does not receive threats from countries but from an enemy who is roaming freely. "The biggest global enemy is climate change, which we are taking very lightly," she explained, saying India and Pakistan will suffer the ill-effects of climate change being faced by each other.

"This year the results and solutions, which we are looking forward to, are to get a framework to develop the Asian Union and to get a hold of better policies on the Syrian crisis," explained Sagar Thorani, executive director for corporate affairs at Munik. Thorani told the delegates that it had been a roller-coaster ride since September 2015, when they started working on Munik-VII.



Munik-VII has been a collaborative result of the public speaking society, whose members are elected by a free and fair election and on the basis of merit. The public speaking society selects a team, which holds the conference and manages all the operational works at Munik.

There are a total of 12 departments under the team, which are handled by students of every year and section. The departments include marketing, delegate affairs, corporate, security, registration and accommodation. Munik-VII president Nabeel Sheikh said he was looking forward to the solutions, efforts, participation and ideas that will be coming in during the four-day conference.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2016.