Great opportunities seldom come without us seeking them but

such a rarity did become a reality when five of us were approached by,
Ma’am Tanima and Ma’am Madhumita, to represent our school in a
competition being organized by La Martiniere Calcutta. The event was a
Model United Nations, a concept encouraged by the United Nations itself.
The concept of a MUN is important as it helps the participants to become
fully aware of the way the UN functions. Unless we, the future of the world
are aware of the functioning & proceedings of the United Nations, this vital
congregation of the nations of the world will not be successful. LMCMUN
was extremely exciting for both the organizers and us, the participants as it
was the first Model United Nations in Eastern India. La Martiniere for Boys
and La Martiniere for Girls conducted this event in collaboration over a span of three days, the 8th, 9th and 10th of May,
2009.

After registering for the event, the participants were informed about their fields of research and the form of the
competition. Each school was assigned a nation and had to send in a delegation of five members, who represented the
country to three committees. Two delegates represented their assigned country in the General Assembly, another two
in the Security Council and the fifth in the Human Rights Council. The topic stipulated for discussion in the Security
Council was “The Situation in Darfur” while that in the General Assembly was “The Global Terrorist Network”. The
agenda for the Human Rights Council was “The Humanitarian situation of refugees in northern Africa”.

Our first interactive involvements were the simulation sessions that were held in La Martiniere for three days,
on the 22nd and 23rd of April and the 7th of May, familiarizing us with all the rules and procedure that have to be followed
in MUN sessions. The informal instructions given to us by the chairpersons of each committee were amply visualized as
simulation programs accompanied them. Students from La Martiniere took part in these simulations and staged a model
performance of the actual event. This simulation went a long way in lending us a confident grip on MUN rules and
procedures and their applications.

The basic round of orientations acquainted us with this new form of competition. It was then of utmost
importance for the team to embark on a comprehensive research on the foreign policies of our assigned nation and the
real world scenario pertaining to the topic of discussion in committee. This process was very enriching for all the
members of the team, in terms of gaining vital insight into the politics and diplomacy of today’s world. The intense
research and formulation of the policies of the Ethiopia (i.e. the nations DBL was representing in LMCMUN) proved to be
an eye-opener to some very intricate aspect of the world issues that concern us.

The three days of the event were days of intense activity as twenty-one delegations used all their diplomacy and
ingenious methods of reasoning and argument to defend their country’s policies. The delegates asserted their country’s
stance on the floor of the house and were prepared to defend them till death! No wonder it’s a prerequisite of being a
successful MUNer. From the inauguration ceremony, which was a wonderful combination of entertaining performances,
to the last debates, day one was witness to an amazing spectacle of tireless enthusiasm. All participants slowly overcame
their initial hitches as the debate slowly assumed a smooth flow. With the proper guidance of the Executive Boards, all
the committees made great headway into their respective topics. Building of support blocs too assumed a central
position as committee debates mostly take the form of debates between opposing blocs. As the committee decides
upon proceedings and resolutions by a majority vote, having the support of one’s bloc actually helps in getting one’s
views and actions approved by the committee as a whole. Building of support blocs and being in a commanding position
in one’s bloc is the key to a MUNer’s success and this activity is actually a test of a MUNer’s skill of convincing people
and the ability to put forth ingenious ideas & solutions. The day ended on a high note for all the participants as
productive and constructive debates seemed to be paving the way for genuine solutions to the problems under
discussion by the various committees.

The second day started off without much ado, reinitiating the previous day’s debates. Soon it was time for the
working papers to be submitted by the various committees wherein solutions that had been discussed by the
committees would be enshrined. But we were all presented with a surprise when the Executive Boards presented crisis
situations to all the committees. All rules of procedure were suspended as the committees entered an emergency
situation. The advice of the chairpersons came to our rescue as all delegates made maximum use of their knowledge
about their appointed country’s foreign policies. This made it extremely difficult for the committees to arrive at a
feasible solution. As already mentioned, the committees stand divided by various blocs who have different ideals and
ways of handling situations. The Executive Board of each committee came to the rescue as they brokered a compromise
between the blocs and succeeded in getting all nations to provide a united front to the crisis and resolutions were
passed, effecting immediate relief measures for those affected. In the Security Council, the Executive Board even
succeeded in arranging a video-conference between the committee delegates and the rebels (pertaining to the
emergency where Chadian rebels had made certain demands and had threatened to cause nuclear fallout in Chad if
their demands were not met within a 12 hour deadline). Thus the crises were successfully resolved and the committees
soon returned to the discussion of the working papers at hand and other aspect of the topic under discussion. If the
proceedings of the day had provided us with a jolt, the day’s lunch provided an equal yet pleasant surprise.

The second day having been spent mostly on resolving the crisis situations, the third day was totally dedicated
to consolidating all the solution measures suggested on the previous days. The most activity of a MUN, formulation of
draft resolutions was undertaken. The day had fewer hours for MUN proceedings than the previous days and
consequently was more hectic. The debates of this day were marked by vigorous arguments by oppositions and resolute
defenses by the sponsors. The more powerful blocs in each committee succeeded in making a draft resolution and in
convincing the others to vote in its ‘favour’. In the Security Council, the delegates of the observer nations and the non-
permanent nations were faced with the challenging task of persuading the delegations of the permanent nations to
refrain from using casting a ‘veto’ as it results in immediate failure of the resolution. Very high standards of debating
marked the end of the MUN. While the refreshments served during the day were a connoisseur’s delight, the
performances that were part of the closing ceremony were greatly appreciated by the cultural connoisseurs.

The overall experience was immensely enriching for us, both in terms of gaining knowledge and making friends
from all corners of the city. The competition also gave us the feel of what it takes and feels to be a representative of a
nation. With immense support from our teachers we were able to put up an outstanding performance in all the
committees. This was reflected in the awards ceremony, where two of our members were declared as the Best
Delegates from the General Assembly and Security Council. Another member received a commendation for Outstanding
Participation in the Security Council. The delegate in the Human Rights Council received an award for the Best Position
Paper. Thus with the maximum number of overall commendations received by a single school, Don Bosco School, Liluah
was declared as the Best Delegation in LMCMUN 2009.

DON BOSCO SCHOOL, LILUAH – Best Delegation of LMCMUN 09

Subhrangsu Mukherjee – Best Delegate (General Assembly)

Promit Biswas – Outstanding Performer (Security Council)

Aniruddha Dey – Best Delegate (Security Council)

Sayan Samanta – Best Position Paper (Human Rights Council)

-Subhrangsu Mukherjee

-Promit Biswas

-Aniruddha Dey

-Sayan Samanta

-Surath Bhattacharjee