This year’s Hill Country Model United Nations Conference was held online via Microsoft Teams on 28 and 29 August 2021. The conference was organised for the 4th time by the Model United Nations (MUN) clubs of Trinity College Kandy, Dharmaraja College Kandy, and Gateway College Kandy.
The organizers of the event began their preparations for the conference in July 2021. The executive committee members of SLMUN joined us in early August 2021.
Hill Country Model United Nations (HCMUN) is the main regional conference for Kandy endorsed by Sri Lanka Model United Nations (SLMUN).
The main goal this year is to introduce MUN to Kandy, as only the schools mentioned above are prominently active in the circuit. Through an outreach program, we reached out to Hillwood College Kandy, Kandy Girls High School, St. Anthony’s College Kandy and St. Sylvester’s College Kandy.
First up was the workshop held on the 21 August 2021. The incentive of having a workshop prior to the conference was to familiarize novice delegates with MUN procedure, research, and Foreign Policy etc. The workshop was divided into two sessions. The first was an Introductory Session and the second was a Crisis Session for the delegates to put their newly learnt skills into practice. It was conducted by the Executive Committee members of SLMUN.
The conference was held on the 28 and 29 August 2021. We had an attendance of nearly 10 schools and over a hundred delegates for the first time in HCMUN history. In addition to the schools in the outreach programme; Ladies’ College Colombo, Royal Institute Nugegoda and Gateway College Colombo took part in the conference.
The committees simulated at the conference were,
General Assembly 3
Economic and Social Council
Arab League
United Nations Security Council
After two days of somewhat heated debates, many statements and right to replies, resolutions were passed in all committees; and to cap off the conference a crisis session was held. The closing ceremony marked the end of the conference with the Secretary-General of SLMUN officially declaring the session closed.
HCMUN has always been an entry-level conference that gives both Novice and experienced delegates the ability to do MUN in a more nurturing atmosphere without sacrificing the quality of debate one would find in conferences such as SLMUN. As this was the first conference which many of our young delegates took part in, it was a good opportunity for them to practise their MUN skills they had been honing for the last few months. The experience gained by the delegates is a steppingstone for them to move into more heated and competitive conferences while improving their cognitive skills.
Master Sanchitha Wickrama, a delegate of TCMUN, was awarded the best delegate award in the Arab League for representing Yemen.
Reviewed by Pavara Rambukwella
(Secretary, Trinity College Model United Nations)
