Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia; home to Curtin University and the birth place of BORNEO Model United Nations (BMUN) held a 5 daylong conference from September 26th to 30th. It was the largest Model United Nations held on the island of Borneo till date. Attended by delegates from all over Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Sweden, this time the BMUN was a gathering of delegates from diverse backgrounds assembled on a platform to discuss about the top issues of the world and express their opinions. The Borneo Model United Nations consisted of four councils which are: Historical General Assembly (HGA), Disarmament & International Security Council (DISEC), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and finally United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Each council was judged by Directors, Chairs and Co-chairs with years of experience of attending MUN’s under their belt.
A team of final year students from BRAC University led by Farhan Nafees (BBS), with members Ayan Ahmed (BBS), Sushmita Biswas (EEE), Tousif Islam (BBS) and Tasnim Ara (BBS) represented Bangladesh in the Borneo Model United Nations. The team’s allocations as par councils being; Farhan Nafees, Ayan Ahmed and Tousif Islam allocated into the United Nations Human Rights Council being the delegates of United Kingdom, Afghanistan and The Kingdom Saudi Arabia respectively. Sushmita Biswas allocated into Disarmament & International Security Council as the delegate of Pakistan and TasnimAra allocated into United Nations Security Council as the delegate of New Zealand. The topics upon which the UNHRC was conducted was Topic A: The Implement of Capital Punishment and the Violation of Human Rights and Topic B: The Protection of Educational Institutions during conflicts & in war zones. The topics for DISEC were Topic A: Kashmir, Baloch actions, warn Nuclear reactions and Topic B: The use of Private Military & Service Companies (PMSC) in DISEC and finally the UNSC upholding the topic of Civil Unrest in Burundi and Egypt.
The conference commenced on 26th September, 2016 at Curtin University, Sarawak. Being the sponsors of the BMUN, East Wood Valley Country Club accommodated all the delegates. The three daylong conference ended on 29th September, 2016. The closing ceremony took place in one of the auditoriums of East Wood Valley Club on 30th September.
The delegated were judged on four major criteria’s, which were Knowledge, Confidence, Sustainable Opinions and Diplomacy. Based on thorough research, speaking with utmost confidence and with diplomacy, BRAC University team achieved the highest average points all together which resulted in winning the Best Delegation Award also in addition with individual awards to the leader Farhan Nafees of Best Position Paper in UNHRC and Sushmita Biswas of Best Delegate of DISEC.