Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

Two SFS-Qatar students, Zainab Elfil (SFS ’11) and Aakash Jayaprakash (SFS ’11), won “Best Delegate” awards in their respective committees during the 15th annual Vienna International Model United Nations Conference (VIMUN) held in the UN Headquarters Building in Vienna, Austria, from August 2-6, 2009.

Zainab Elfil won “Best Delegate” representing Morocco in the Commission for Population and Development, which discussed the issue of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. “One of the interesting things that happened was that I found myself taking the role of a moderator in the discussion, trying to make people less polar and to actually listen to each other and agree on some things,” commented Elfil. Aakash Jayaprakash won “Best Delegate” while representing Bangladesh in the Human Rights Council in addressing migrant workers’ rights. “I felt like all my experience working with the issue in real life helped me in committee,” said Jayaprakash.

“Almost every single SFS-Qatar student on the trip came from a family of migrant workers and that gave us a lot of insight into the issue,” Jayaprakash said. “This fact plus our Georgetown experience and classes gave us the ability to analyze things on a higher level. In our classes we discuss these issues, in our books we read about these issues, and we have these conversations on the side with other students.”

In total, ten students travelled to Austria to attend the VIMUN conference. This trip was a training opportunity for the students to gain experience in order to fulfill their roles in organizing the 5th annual SFS-Qatar MUN for international high school students due to take place in January 2010.

During VIMUN, SFS-Qatar student delegates represented a variety of different countries and were assigned to several committees, including the Security Council, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the International Maritime Organization. Delegates deliberated topics such as piracy, corruption prevention measures and the current situation in Kashmir.

Most of the other student delegates at the conference were from Austria, Germany and Russia, with the SFS-Qatar team contributing greatly to the diversity of the conference. “I think one of the most interesting things was that our group was one of only two non-European groups in the committees, and it was interesting to see others talk about countries that some of us know very well,” Elfil said. “I had the benefit of knowing African and the Islamic cultures so when there was a point on these aspects of societies in sub-Saharan Africa, I felt I had the benefit of giving an inside opinion.”

Nada Soudy (SFS ’11), who represented the Netherlands in the Human Rights Council, agreed on the importance of the diversity brought by the group from Qatar. “I felt proud to finally gain the opportunity to represent a region that is so often misrepresented in the West in order to prove how open-minded and accepting we are of other cultures and other peoples’ opinions.”

Student participation in the conference was sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs and the student-led International Relations Club. Students will be hosting a variety of training days this fall for both SFS-Qatar students and local high school students interested in strengthening their MUN skills before the January 2010 conference.