AKA Mombasa students host online Model United Nations sessions

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AKA Mombasa students have been hosting virtual Model United Nations sessions for their enrichment, which is an academic simulation of the actual United Nations. The online sessions have seen a cohort of more than 25 students who meet every Tuesday of the week for an hour to delegate and attempt to find solutions to major global issues. Diploma Programme 1 student Saloni Patel gives more insight.

Currently, the incoming executive team made up of Hisham Ladha, Cinzia Torrani, Saloni Patel, Mahek Shah, and Faizaan Firoz are running an online Model United Nations (MUN) enrichment activity with the help of the outgoing East African Model United Nations executive team, which consists of Bilal Adamjee, Laiqa Walli, Muskaan Bhaidhani, Irfan Karmali, and Joshua Makome. We chose to name our enrichment ‘eMUN’ as it is being done virtually, thus the ‘e’ which stands for electronic. Together we’re helping students in Year 8 to Diploma 1 who are interested in learning more about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations.

Students in a virtual MUN session.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not able to run this club in school, but we firmly believe that it is important for these students to enhance their speaking, debating, and writing skills for future conferences.

Considering the circumstances, we are using Zoom as an online platform to hold MUN sessions weekly for an hour, to teach students various concepts. We combine fun activities such as sharing breaking news topics, and crossfire debates to help students become more aware of the issues our world faces today, thus boosting their confidence to become stronger delegates.