Human Rights Committee

UNHRC - reflections

Kanupriya (head) Nitya (co-head)

21.09.2020

This was our first MUN session as heads of our committee and it was a captivating experience. We began with a simple introduction of ourselves and a welcome note addressed towards our teachers and delegates. It was quite compelling to engross all the delegates in the discussion and interact with us as it was a new environment. We started with a short briefing regarding the MUN terminologies and how to go about it.

Our mock debate was initiated by a delegate, on the topic of ‘Legalization of euthanasia’ and to ensure a systematic debate we split them into two groups : for and against the topic and permitted 10minutes of research time to get familiar with the concept. Initially it was difficult to convince them to speak up but as time progressed they adapted to it and became more interactive. Since it was an engaging debate we lost track of time.

It was a learning experience and we learnt that an initiative is imperative to start a productive discussion and that it is essential to have an open mind when dealing with various perspectives.

22.09.2020

Today we started off our session with an explanation of the procedures and how we are expected to communicate during a formal meeting and debates. We informed them about the mistakes that were commonly made in the previous session and made sure that they use the proper terminologies while addressing the other delegate. Subsequently we conducted a mock debate based on the idea on whether access to guns should be legalized for all. As the debate proceeded, we came to know that the idea range for this topic was less among the delegates, thus we decided to choose a more debatable topic for the next day. Towards the end, we tried interacting with the committee on whether they were facing any difficulties and if they needed any guidance figuring out a particular procedure or the meaning of our official committee topics. In the end, our teachers gave us feedback on the ways we could improvise and a few alternatives and ideas of creating timelines to conduct a meeting . Hence we learnt quite a lot from them. We also understood that various people need different amounts of time to gain confidence in a new environment and making people comfortable in a discussion should be our first priority.

23.09.2020

Nitya (Co-head)

We began our session with an explanation of the position and resolution papers and how to exactly format them and what are clauses. We tried making them familiar with terminologies and terms of both the papers.Followed by a debate on the topic ‘Should homework be banned’. We realized that this debate was much more productive than the previous ones and many more people participated and interacted as we feel the topic was comprehensive and familiar to everyone. They had valid points and the teachers as well took part in the discussions voicing their opinions.Towards they end it seemed difficult to have them stop since everyone was engrossed and had a point to argue with. Finally we adjourned the debate with a few tips from the teachers and ensuring that each delegate was comfortable. We had a fruitful session and personally i was quite satisfied with the responses knowing that most of them were interested to be a part of our committee.

Kanupriya (Head)

We started our session with the explanation and the format of a position paper and resolution. We tried to explain the connection between the two clauses in the resolution paper with necessary terms in order to start them.Today, the committee had nine delegates and furthermore, we had a mock debate on the topic- if homework should be banned. Like earlier, we decided to divide them into groups as the delegates gain a clear motive and have a higher chance of taking an initiative to speak. In this way, the delegates are fairly divided into two different sides and they also have the experience of building points on perspectives which are not their own as in the future, they have to proceed with their country’s perspective, not their personal one. In comparison, this debate was better and more lively than the others as the topic was connected to their own lives and they are also getting more accustomed to the environment as the time passes by. The teachers also took the initiative and placed their own perspective forward as it is also a critical debatable topic in their field. After the debate had adjourned, we realised that the delegates had become more vocal but were lacking evidence and facts as a back-up of their perspectives. Furthermore, we had a session with our teachers, where we decided that we will slowly increase the difficulty of the topics so that there is a drastic increase in the seriousness of the debate. We also got feedback from our teachers that we will implement in the next session and in the end, we were satisfied that we were making progress.

24.09.2020

Nitya (Co-head)

Our session commenced with a briefing on what was supposed to be done, that was two debates on different topics but that did not end up happening since all the members were engrossed with the first debate topic so we skipped the second one. Almost the entire session the delegates debated on whether video games are good for you? We had allotted groups before-hand for and against the topic but due to a low strength we had to shift the delegates mid-debate. Some delegates were following all the procedures and debating well but there were a few who weren’t able to step out of their comfort zone and speak, therefore the teachers along with the chair tried communicating with them and figuring out what problem they may be facing and finding a way to help them. Even though initially the involvement of everyone was less and the head had to step in the outcome was very productive as the participants each had a point to present with stances backing their statements hence making it extremely fruitful and interesting.

Kanupriya (Head)

We commenced our session by a brief discussion of what we are going to accomplish by the end of the session. We had decided to finish two mock debates and the allotment of the countries to the delegates. There were comparatively fewer delegates present from the previous session and the first mock debate topic was - Are video games any good for us? The committee was divided into groups so that they have a motive about where they should stand but in the middle of the session,we had to make a few changes in the number of delegates in the group due to the other delegates not being present. Initially the debate didn’t have enough contribution of all the delegates and so I thought to become a delegate and go against the perspective of most of the delegates present in the idea that they will support their points and the idea worked. After adding a little contribution everyone spoke and we were quite happy about how some reluctant delegates were getting involved in the topic. Although we had planned the second topic as well, the time consumed by the first debate exceeded the time limit we were expecting and so it wasn't possible to shift to a new topic. In the end, we decided to allot the countries and we also had a session with our teachers where they helped us to encourage the delegates who were still trying to adjust and we also discussed about how we can make our sessions better.

25.09.2020

Nitya (Co-head)

Today, we directly began our session with a debate on the topic- Is there a positive outcome for the family bonding due to the covid-19 pandemic? We gave our committee members around five mins of research time and had beforehand divided them into groups for and against the topic. There was an active participation of roughly seven members and there was not much difficulty initiating the debate. The only problem we faced during the meeting was that the delegates tend to base their arguments on solely hypothetical situations and a few personal experiences, forgetting the factual and statistical data. Therefore, we highlighted this drawback and explained it to them. Towards the end after finally getting them to stop the debate we answered a few questions posed by them and gave them a rough idea on how to prepare for the final debate along with instructions for researching on the main topics for the following week.

Kanupriya (Head)

Today we began our session on the debate topic- Is there a positive outcome for the family bonding due to the covid-19 pandemic? This topic was suggested by our teachers and it was appropriate while keeping in mind that not all the delegates were completely comfortable with each other and it was directly related to the personal lives. The delegates were divided into two groups and there were roughly 7-8 delegates present. We were making progress as the delegates were opening up more but the debate got messy when all the delegates started basing their perspectives on hypothetical situations and not on facts. The debate was also mainly focusing on the emotional side and not the problems relating to financial statuses. This debate was a key to understanding the necessity of evidence as a back-up and the importance of viewing a large variety of elements when talking about perspectives. We had also planned on having a doubt session in the end but it wasn't possible as the debate had extended than had been planned. In the end, all the delegates developed their ideas in the manner of conveying a perspective and we decided to focus on the committee topics and countries for the next-week.

28.09.2020

Nitya (Co-head)

Today we had a comparatively better attendance and we answered quite a few questions related to the topic since the delegates had done some research over the weekend and had been allotted their countries. Most of them had a potentially good base of the idea of our topics. We gave all of them time to research their countries and find their stance in accordance with the main ideas. We asked them questions about their countries to ensure they made use of the time at hand and basic questions of what they feel is xenophobia and censorship. Although there were a few questions posed by the members, we felt that the sessions with debates were more productive and the delegates were more alert.

Kanupriya (Head)

After the weekend we had planned to focus more on our committee topics and thus, we started the session concerning the delegates about their doubts on the structure of position paper and where one'es country stands in a particular situation. The doubts mainly revolved around what the committee topics are and we also asked questions about these topics in order to make sure that the delegates are comprehending the information.Then we gave time to research on the topics and their countries in order to have a small initiation in the process of preparing for the MUN. We had planned on giving them time everyday and not focusing on the mock debates but today we realised that we should not stop these debates and tell the delegates to focus on the research later during the day as the sessions became very inactive. In the end of the session, we asked all the delegates to state one fact/point of their country which is directly related to the topics in order to make sure that the delegates were doing something productive when the time was given.

29.09.20

Nitya (Co-head)

Since the session yesterday wasn’t very productive, we decided to have a mock debate on the topic- Should the government or other agencies be permitted to censor things on the internet?. We specifically chose this subject because it is related to our topic and we wanted the delegates to get familiar with it. There were only a few members that joined today and only two- three delegates participated in the debate. The chair had to take the position of the Un representative in order to move the debate ahead and we answered a few questions posed by one delegate based on his country.Therefore, it wasn’t a very productive day overall.

30.09.20

Kanupriya (Head)

Today we started our session with a mock debate on the topic- Is it ethical to give capital punishment to people who perform racism? 9-10 delegates were present in the committee and we divided the delegates into two groups in accordance with their speaking abilities.The debate was drastically improving as the delegates had started using facts as evidence to back-up their perspectives and less hypothetical situations were introduced. After the debate, an unmoderated caucus was held where delegates were easily interacting with each other. In the end of the session, we were satisfied that the delegates had posed suggestions for the upcoming debates and held enthusiasm. We decided to use problem solving debate topics in order to gain a new experience.

01.10.20

Nitya (Co-head)

Our meeting began with a discussion on the topic: Should history be a subject?- The delegates in the starting needed a nudge but as the discussion progressed they interacted well with each other. We decided to practise an unmoderated caucus towards the end, which got out of hand. The delegates started suggesting points altogether. The teachers in our committee were quite disappointed and explained to our committee that the points the delegates state should have relevance, proofing and cannot be based on an assumption. We learnt quite a bit about maintaining discipline and way to put forth our points.