The IMUN Conference this year was such a roller-coaster ride! And I say that because I love roller-coasters :) So many young people around the world come together to understand, acknowledge the growing problem of mental health in youth and discuss possible innovative solutions…
IMUN, which stands for International Model United Nations, is a subsidiary of the UN, the United Nations! IMUN’s conferences are funded by the UN and the Australian Embassy in Vietnam and Thailand. IMUN’s objective is to address a global issue and for delegates representing various countries to provide solutions for it. Different issues are discussed using a committee. For example, COVID-19: promoting health and care would be assigned to the committee WHO, or the World Health Organisation. Gender inequality would be assigned to UN Women, etc.
Before the conference, they asked us to choose the committee of our choice and the country we would like to represent. I chose the WHO as the topic for the WHO this time around was mental health. Mental health is a major issue that young people around my age face and some severe mental issues might lead to suicides in young people. I wanted to understand the causes of this, and, of course, possible solutions. Then, all delegates were allocated to a committee and a country to represent. I got Singapore, as India was already taken by someone. I didn’t take this as a setback but as an opportunity to learn more about a different country. It was important for me to understand if I would have the same level of Empathy towards a country other than India (and it turned out I do 😊 its first step towards humanitarian thinking)
The numbers in India and Singapore are mind-boggling -
As part of our research around the topic, we were asked to write an optional position paper. A position paper is a document about the condition of the issue to be discussed in the country allocated to you, and what that country is doing about it. I researched a lot about Singapore, mainly through government websites and news articles, and talked with some of my friends in Singapore, as I found that they seemed to provide more specific information. Two days before the conference, I submitted the position paper. I was so excited about the conference that I couldn’t sleep for those two nights! And finally, the day of the conference dawned…
I woke up on the 3rd of April filled with excitement and curiosity. I quickly got ready for the conference, and it started bang on time! The academic adviser of IMUN, Mr Galib Akhand, started by briefing us about IMUN, the GSL (General Speakers List), the moderated caucus and the unmoderated caucus. And then, we were put in our breakout rooms according to the committees we chose. The chairs for the WHO were Mr Aryan Singh and Ms Airish Castillo. We started by opening the GSL.
The GSL is when every delegate is given a minute to say anything they want. Almost all of the delegates spoke in a general speakers list, and I felt like I had just opened Pandora’s box. I learnt so much from just that half an hour. Then, a motion for a moderated caucus was given by me, to discuss the issues regarding mental health around the world and it passed! Twenty delegates were given a chance, including me. I just understood how vast this problem is, and how less attention it’s been given compared to physical health. Then, throughout the day, we had many moderated caucuses, where causes of mental disorders, how COVID-19 has worsened the situation and solutions were discussed.
At the end of the conference, the chairs told us to work on two documents, the working paper and the draft resolution. The working paper was an informal document, which just continued the points discussed on the first day of the conference, while the draft resolution was a formal document, with all of the problems and possible solutions discussed with certain perambulatory and operative clauses. The deadline for the working paper was 9 PM IST. I pulled up my socks and began working with delegates from countries like Belarus, Albania and Malaysia. We were able to finish the working paper before time! Then, as I had guests at my house, I decided to work on the draft resolution on 4th April…
The next day, I decided to take the lead for the draft resolution. Until the deadline, I, the delegate of Belarus, the delegate of Sri Lanka, the delegate of Iceland and the delegate of Romania worked hard on the draft resolution. We worked on some of the core issues and possible solutions we discussed and backed that with research data we gathered. Once you have this draft resolution document you need others to read, acknowledge and sign it to show their agreement with your draft resolution. You need at least fifteen signatories, and guess what we had well over that. We had around 21 signatories, so we were set, hard work paid off. Before the voting on the draft resolution, we had a GSL and a couple of unmoderated caucuses, where we would just discuss freely anything we wanted. We got to know each other better and discussed even more solutions.
Here are some of the points we proposed in our Draft Resolution -
Encourage local governments to set up government-funded clinics and encourage Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), private clinics and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) fighting against discrimination and stereotyping;
Emphasize that mental health issues should be normalized using education as the basic tool to eradicate the social stigma, mental health services must be incorporated as a core component of the health system;
Endorse nations to set up helplines, so young adults and adolescents can seek help easily;
Remind the nations and the World Health Organization to run ad campaigns as well as awareness campus using online means, like Instagram and Facebook, during this pandemic;
Proclaim that with the guidance of the World Health Organization, all nations should train volunteers on grassroots levels to eradicate the consequences and the soul loss by mental disorders on young adults;
Further recommend small and sufficient counselling programs for parents and other relatives, as they spend the most time around their children;
Call upon the government to understand the causes of mental diseases and encourage more researchers to have more research about it to resolve the mental diseases by funding further research
Recommend all nations to adhere to the policy of “Patients with any mental illness should be given medication free of charge”;
Reaffirm all individuals of The Right to Health, which ensures that everyone, everywhere can access, affordable quality healthcare, which is a fundamental right;
Further inviting member states to take necessary action to prevent the propagation of false news about COVID-19 which could potentially lead to negative mental health consequences.
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And then, the time came to vote on the draft resolution!
First, the chairs gave thirty minutes for other sponsors of the draft resolutions to get signatories, as the rest of them didn’t have enough. One of them was able to gather fifteen signatories while the two others got very close. Then an amendment procedure happened, where minor changes were made to both of the draft resolutions. In the voting procedure, our draft resolution was declared the official draft resolution for the WHO for the 3-4 April conference! WooHoo! Some of the other draft resolutions didn’t have proper solutions and had some grammatical errors. Nonetheless, they had put in a lot of efforts. After an unmoderated and moderated caucus, there came the award ceremony…
The award ceremony was the most stressful part for me. I usually avoid them, I never work for awards, they make me nervous. There were butterflies in my stomach throughout. The chairs started calling out the winners from the verbal recommendations to the outstanding delegate award. For about three minutes, my name wasn’t called. But then, for the special mentions, I heard it! The delegate of Singapore had won the award! Oh, that’s me I was so happy, that I couldn’t resist sharing that with my parents immediately. They said I am the youngest at the conference (that shouldn’t matter though). For me more than the award I was excited with the internship opportunity which followed the post-conference, friends I made during the conference and the most important issues we discussed around “Mental Health in Youth”. I am thankful to IMUN for this opportunity.
Today, to this moment, I proudly promote IMUN on Twitter. Make sure to follow @imunofficial and @SifarJirgale on Twitter!
Thank you for reading!
Sifar
That's a treasure trove of experience! Heartiest congratulations, best wishes for all your future endeavours and choicest blessings for your ever ascending brilliant career.
Ujjwala Dalvi.