What we learn with pleasure, we never forget.

DPS Gurgaon has always believed in providing an atmosphere that blends work and learning with pleasure, leading to an exposure making memories for life. One such opportunities was Model United Nations Conference held at the UN Office, Geneva, Switzerland, from 15th April’18 to 20th April’18 organised by United Ambassadors and coordinated by Wheel of Innovations. 17 students with one teacher visited Geneva to participate in this Conference which was a combination of a Two -Day Training followed by a Four- Day Conference.

Day 1 was the Training Workshop. Students were welcomed at the Mövenpick Hotel, Geneva, by the Secretariat of the Conference. During this training session, the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General of the UN4MUN Conference briefed the delegates about the various committees in the United Nations and their history. This was followed by the ‘pizza exercise’ which was designed to build consensus in which all students were divided into 5 groups and were allotted backgrounds explaining what type of pizza they would prefer; they had to negotiate with other groups to form a common pizza that all groups could eat - this was put much emphasis on as it encouraged all students to reach a consensus similar to how different countries reach a consensus in the United Nations. After this activity, a simulation of the General Assembly and Security Council was done.

Day 2 of the Training Workshop was held at the UN Office, Geneva, where the simulations for the Economic and Social Council and International Court of Justice took place. After each committee’s simulation, Press Stakeouts took place where students were perceived as Ambassadors of various countries and were asked questions by other students perceived as the Press. It was quite an entertaining and a learning experience for the students being in the shoes of a representative of a country and answering questions on a global concern.

The Conference started with the Opening Ceremony on 17th April’18 in which the Secretary General of the UN4MUN Conference welcomed the delegates from around 35 countries who had come to participate in the Conference followed by the speeches of the President and the Vice- President of the GA Plenary.

The next two days were full of discussions, debates, negotiations in six committees of the Conference, namely, GA, SC 1, SC 2, SC 3, ECOSOC and ICJ, where the delegates tried to take out solutions to some of the global issues and resolve them, at the Mövenpick Hotel. The Conference culminated with the Closing Ceremony at the Un Office, Geneva, in which the Executive Board members of each committee gave speeches followed by the award ceremony.

The delegation of DPS Gurgaon was conferred with the Award for being an Outstanding Delegation amongst the delegations from around 35 countries.

After the Closing Ceremony, the students of Delhi Public School, Gurgaon got the opportunity to meet the Deputy Representative of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, Virendra Paul for an interactive session which continued for an hour in which issues like disarmament, rights of the children, Rohingya issue, etc, were discussed.

Apart from this educational experience, the students also got a chance to visit the BMW Welt, City Square in Munich, Germany. Students also enjoyed the snow clad Mount Titlis and the various rides over there starting from the revolving cable car to the Ice Flyer, to the Titlis Rotair. They also enjoyed the Glacier Walk which was 10 metres below the actual glacier. On the last day, before the students boarded the flight to New Delhi, they got a chance to explore the city of Geneva too!