Future envoys

Over the weekend, around 200 youth delegates from 14 universities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar gathered in the kingdom to participate in the third Bahrain Universities Model United Nations Conference (BUMUN) - a forum for young people to understand the value of democracy, workings of an international agency and realise the depth of diplomacy required to maintain peace in the world.

Organised by the General Organisation for Youth and Sports (GOYS), the event saw a healthy debate on world issues among young men and women who represented countries other than their own.

At BUMUN, delegates require excellent researching, debating and communication skills, a personality that can accept other's view point and persuasive to do effective lobbying.

Hussain Al Shabib, chairman of the General Assembly at BUMUN, explained: "Every delegate participates in BUMUN voluntarily. He has to adopt a country other than his own and in the process look at that country's perspective. I have participated in BUMUN for the last three-years and personally believe that discussing issues is more effective than going to war."

In a simulated United Nations General Assembly environment, youth lobbied and discussed well researched topics on women empowerment, drug enforcement and agreed on resolving a mock emergency situation when it was revealed that the Kurdish Workers Party had opened attacks on Turkish troops.

The International Atomic and Energy Agency, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council were the other committees that grouped in simulated environments to discuss the nuclear standoff in South Asia, develop peaceful nuclear energy, public private partnership in natural resource management, water shortages arising out of urbanisation and the changing role of United Nations peacekeeping.

Doris Martin, BUMUN founder and advisor, said: "This is a youth programme run by the students. They undergo training on debating and writing skills. They have to work to deadlines, learn to negotiate with individuals of various nationalities.

"For instance we have other than Bahraini, American, Lebanese, Palestinian, Indian, Filipino, Jordanian, Saudi, and Kuwaiti students taking part in this BUMUN. They have to let go of thoughts such as, 'I hate 'a' country or activity'. They have to learn to think critically.

"Research does not mean going on to the internet and do copy-paste. Students have to read and understand. They have to frame resolutions and amendments and lobby for them. When proceedings begin they have to agree to the time of each debate, which is generally between 2 to 5 minutes.

"Language is a challenge as they have to debate in English, use diplomatic terminology and be familiar with parliamentary procedures. They have to organise their thoughts and activities quickly."

As BUMUN is a completely voluntary activity, students have to work extra hours over and above their study time in preparation for the meeting. They get rewarded by learning life skills and an opportunity to win Diplomacy Awards, which are based on performance, good debating and diplomacy skills. The Awards are decided by the chairpersons and the awardees get the opportunity to become chairpersons in future events.