By Theobesta Debalkie,
President of Lebawi MUN, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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When the day started, everything was prepared for the Blue Heart campaign. The set up for the program, the speakers, the projector and the tables were all in their places. Lebawi MUN club members from eleventh grade were done with their presentation rehearsals and ready to brief everyone coming to the program about Human Trafficking. The Lebawi MUN PR was done preparing the videos introducing the issue. The two club presidents were caught up with making sure everything is in its place and everyone in their designated places. The other club members were ready to usher the guests and help them with anything.
After finalizing our work, we were going around checking everything. At that moment we felt like the tables, which were setup to hold the various art pieces of the competition, might be too much. Though we hoped that many students from various schools will participate on the competition, we didn’t expect most to be well prepared and organized. After discussing about it for a moment, we decided to be prepared for the best possible participation, or at least we thought we did.
A few hours before the start of the program, we were graced with the arrival of students from different schools. They brought amazing works of art representing the unheard screams, the methods of trafficking, the effects of illegal trafficking, and many more points. Prior to the event, students who wanted to participate in the art exhibition were instructed to “submit art pieces that express what human trafficking means to you.” After we received all art works, we understood that we did not have enough space to place the art pieces, hence we had to bring more tables and display the arts. After the presentations and discussions, the whole community started going around and discussing, questioning, and analyzing the art pieces.
Through the art exhibition, we were able to create awareness about human trafficking, exchange ideas and inspire other MUN clubs to align their activities along UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and work towards the protection and security of human beings, especially women and children. In general, the human trafficking event coupled with the art exhibition helped us to understand that accomplishing SDGs was not only the responsibility of United Nations, but rather a shared responsibility and part of our civic duty.
We believe MUN Clubs around the globe have to play a great role in creating awareness on SDGs, initiating the youth to think globally and work towards the SDGs be it in their extracurricular activities, organizational work or team work.
In all, the arts exhibition was a proof that if proper and the needed opportunity is provided to the youth, their voices combined with the work being done by the UN and other worldwide organizations is a force well-equipped to transform the world and make it a better place to live in.