[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="New Al Wurood emerges winners in Model UN Conference" ids="142724,142722,142723"]
By Hassan Cheruppa
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – Young speakers turned their debate into a brainstorming session on addressing two most pressing issues of the present day world. The venue was the 6th edition of the Western Zonal Model United Nations Conference (MUNC) held at Kenana Hotel in Jeddah. The boys of Jeddah’s New Al Wurood International School, who posed as delegates of Jordan, lifted the overall championship while Al Wurood girls, who debated as delegates of Pakistan, came up with the first runner up position. The boys of Jeddah’s Ahdhab International School secured the second runner up position while the girls of Jabal Farasan International School of Rabigh qualified as the fourth team to take part in the finals.
Al Khozama International School of Dammam will host the final event where winners from all three regions of the Kingdom will participate. A large number of parents and mentors turned up to witness the superb performance of their wards at MUNC with the theme of “Working together for a better tomorrow.”
Nine teams from five schools represented nations such as Indonesia, Sudan, Jordan, Pakistan, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh, Russia and Myanmar at MUNC which was an authentic replica of the UN General Assembly and Security Council sessions. The delegates left an indelible impression on the audience as if the latter was watching the UN sessions while embracing the spirit of togetherness when the teen boys and girls demonstrated their extraordinary oratory skills and diplomatic acumen in resolving major crises facing the humanity.
“Human rights violations and threat to sovereign nations’ was the topic of debate in the model General Assembly while the theme at the Security Council was “Combating climate change and promoting alternative sources of energy.” The delegates proved their mettle and highly competitive spirit in propelling their listeners to their countries’ successful polices and measures towards the raised issues. They exuded exuberance and excellence in their clash of ideas and arguments with delegates of opposing nations.
The General Assembly and Security Council sessions were chaired by Ashique Hyder and Shaneeela Ali respectively. New Al Wurood International School hosted the event in which students from Jeddah’s Novel International School and Mahd Al Uloom International School also participated.
A.M. Ashraff, general manager of Peevees Schools, was the chief guest in the opening ceremony. While underscoring the relevance of meaningful dialogue and learning experience based on it in the present scenario, he congratulated the organizers for initiating such programs that help students explore their inner potentials. S.M. Noushad, group manager of Peevees School, also spoke.
Distinguished Toastmaster and CEO and General Manager of Smart Vision Marwan Dashash was the chief guest in the valedictory ceremony. He congratulated the participants for their exceptional performance in the contest that showed the power of peaceful dialogue in tackling diverse and challenging situations in life. He reminded the participants of the need to spread the powerful message and underlying spirit of the conference to the local Saudi schools where such activities are scant. New Al-Wurood Boys’ Section Vice Principal Peter Ronald welcomed the gathering while Girls’ Section Vice Principal Bushra Kader proposed a vote of thanks. The panel of judges comprised of Toastmasters Joselito Guhito, Dr. Shanti Lakshman and Aravindakshan Menon.
The delegates put up tough competitions for the individual awards in the categories of best delegate, best speech, best country profile, best position paper, and best draft resolution. In the General Assembly session, New Al Wurood’s Tasnim Hidayathullah was the winner in best delegate and best speech categories while Roshini Prasad of Jabal Farasan was the winner in best country profile. Abdullah Hussaini of New Al Wurood was the winner in best draft resolution and first runner up in best delegate and best country profile categories. Michelle Lillian of Novel School was the first runner up in best speech and second runner up in best draft resolution while Syed Imran Ali of Jabal Farasan was the first runner up in best draft resolution. Meghna Dinesh of Ahdab was the second runner up in best delegate and best speech while other second runners up were Michelle Lillian of Novel School (best draft resolution), and Mohammed Fasal Hussain of Ahdab (best country profile).
Shaheer Ansari of New Al-Wurood outshone other delegates in emerging as the winner in all the four categories of best delegate, best speech, best draft resolution and best position paper in the Security Council session. Shiya Binth Siyaz of New Al-Wurood was the first runner up in the categories of best delegate and best draft resolution while Rashad Ahmad of Ahdab was the first runner up in the best speech and best position paper and second runner up in best delegate categories. Other second runners up were Shiya Bint Siyaz of New Al-Wurood (best speech), Farheen Shaikh of Novel (best draft resolution) and Mohammed Usaid of Novel (best position paper).
