In a distinguished academic environment

HARVARD Model United Nations conference has proven to be one of the top-ranked United Nations simulations of the world. Students from all over the world participate in this conference every year as delegates and engage in learning about and practicing international relations. It is an activity which educates all participants in a distinguished, academic environment. Every person involved in such a conference learns a great deal about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda. Harvard University, one of the seven Ivy League universities, has been holding this conference for over 50 years. Its 58th session was held from Jan 27 to 30 at the Sheraton Boston in the capital and largest city of Massachusetts, Boston. It was, as per tradition organised by the Harvard International Relations Council. The council verily serves as the largest non-profit student organisation at the Harvard College. Being one of the most prestigious societies of Harvard College, it is run entirely by undergraduate students and is affiliated with the United Nations Department of Public Information. Members of the Harvard International Relations Council worked at their best level to organise the 2011 Harvard Model United Nations and their efforts proved to be fruitful. As a delegate myself, I was highly impressed by the way they had put together an event to benefit from for students from all over the world. The 2011 Conference served to be a highly deemed arena of student diplomats. I was honoured to be a part of it as it catered to my level of interest in public speaking. This was the fifth time that I had attended a Model United Nations conference. However, the Harvard conference was the first ever international debating event that I participated in. The participants role-played as diplomats representing a nation or non-governmental organisation. In my case, I acted as the delegate of the Republic of Kazakhstan among other member states of the United Nations. There were many students who acted as representatives of Amnesty International, Press Corps and various other renowned organisations. There were simulated sessions of the committees in the United Nations, such as the General Assembly and the Security Council. Being a staunch lover of the subject of Law, I greatly enjoyed being in the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly — the Legal Committee. According to the official definition of the Legal Committee, the Sixth Committee is the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly. All of the United Nations member states are entitled to representation on the Sixth Committee as one of the main committees of the General Assembly. The topics for discussion in the Legal Committee were Patent Law and Rights of Religious and Ethnic Minorities. After official voting, Rights of Religious and Ethnic Minorities was the agenda set in order to be discussed. Various ideas were put forward upon which the laws were planned to be formulated. The housing, healthcare, education and employment facilities for the religious and ethnic minorities were discussed on grounds of international cooperation. In addition to this, international legal instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination were reviewed. Suggestions were put forward for the modification of laws mentioned in these documents. As privileged as it seemed, I addressed the main areas of discrimination and also highlighted the regional sensitivities to the issue. I lay emphasis on the fact that tailored solutions as well as total international action was highly necessary. Furthermore, I recommended a number of solutions ranging from a framework to be established which would appropriately determine a universally acceptable definition of minorities to the utilisation of resources on grounds of introducing good education and immigration facilities for all. The juvenile justice systems and regional body functions were comprehensively discussed in my arguments. It was important to remain friendly and cooperative with the other delegates at all times because our speaking capability, negotiating skills and rate of diplomacy were tested. There were instances when few delegates intimidated me or some did not agree with what was proposed as their foreign policy was too rigid; some simply tried to pressurise one another as we were all part of an extremely competitive committee. Still, it turned out that we drafted excellent resolutions after forming regional and political blocs. Our constructive ideas, helpful suggestions and suitable recommendations were put on paper with a level of cooperation which increased after every committee session. Our performance in the committee was judged by a committee director, a moderator and assistant committee directors. They were all students of Harvard University and highly experienced in the Model United Nations style of debating. They were always ready to assist and advice us. It was easy to communicate with them as they quickly established cordial relations with all delegates and always provided feedback on how we were doing. The whole experience led me into being inspired by everyone present over there at every moment. Continuous motivation and support was provided to me by my teammates who accompanied me on this trip and the countless messages, wishing us all the very best by our family and friends in Pakistan were very heart warming. The closing ceremony proved to be the most memorable time of my trip. Among thousands of students from across the world, my name was announced as an indication that I had won the Outstanding Delegate Award in the Legal Committee. It was an unforgettable moment as the sound of applause, the appearance of my name on the giant screen onstage and my school team cheering for me were the most special elements that added glory to my experience. All the hard work had proven to be definitely worth it and every effort that I had put in brought a reward greater than many.