By Evan WIlliams, MUN Impact Staff Writer and student from John Burroughs School

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On the morning of December seventh, the MUN delegates of John Burroughs, along with their press team and sponsors, gathered, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for breakfast and  dialogue on sexual harassment at MUN conferences, and at large. The goal was not to solve the issue of harassment as a whole, but to determine how the delegation itself could serve in the fight to mitigate such offenses. The groups, who were split into men and women, but will be convening as a whole later this month, covered issues ranging from men’s role in an issue that largely affects women, to the meaning and importance of consent. A note was passed around the room to kick things off. It read as follows:

“That cheetah pant suit would look better on my (the delegate from Czech Republic’s) bedroom floor.”

An audible sigh of exasperation, of exhausted horror swept through the room—it sounded tired. This kind of note was all too familiar, all too common. While this article could recount the notes received by various delegates, to list those would be an act of futility—it’s not the point, it’s a symptom of a greater disease. The question which stood on the edge of each tongue in the room, ready to dive out was not “What other notes have there been?” The question was this: why do people feel empowered to send notes such as this?

When the query revealed itself in the middle of the room, the discussion seemed to take on a greater importance. Voices rose, suggesting a systemic issue. Take advertisements for example. Sex sells, right? Pretty women on billboards are a guaranteed means to sell a product—pretty women eating burgers in provocative ways—pretty women sitting in, on, and around cars—the list goes on. Why is it such a problem if companies wish to drive sales this way? It exploits the female form in a way which makes it merely an accessory, an object. Not only that, but it feeds a culture which normalizes such behavior—normalizes the subjugation of women to nothing more than eye candy.

The students in the room next took aim at the system itself, not just its branches. It’s undeniable that current events in the USA have revealed a gritty underbelly in American politics, one riddled with abuses of power. This year alone, five members of the House of Representatives, one US Senator, one candidate for a US senatorship, one former president, and the current president have been accused of sexual misconduct. There was a moment of consideration of these facts before the obvious point at hand was raised: what does it do to the psyche of young women to see high officials in government be accused of these acts? What does it do to the psyche of young women to know that the sitting president—the highest official in the land, has been accused by nineteen women of sexual misconduct in some form? Does it empower people like the mock delegate of the Czech Republic to send notes like the one above?

Fortunately, of late there has been a forced exodus of these types of offenders from public offices, largely driven by public opinion—by active protest and dialogue. Just like they see troubling societal trends, the delegates in that room in December are able to see opportunity to effect change. They are part of the solution to injustices like heinous, indignant notes—to injustices on a grander scale. It is important to note that they are not alone. The Secretary General of the THIMUN 50th Anniversary Conference  has placed the issue of harassment at the forefront, and will be working with members of the MUNITY press team to confront the problem head-on. This is a community, and its connective fabric is strong. No note will tear them apart.

By Alya Al-Ammari, Co-Founder of Maharat Sewing Project

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In high school, Model United Nations was the highlight of my sister, Maryam, and I’s weekly routine. We waited patiently for Wednesday to come, the day we had MUN club. We would wake up at 5 am, travel an hour from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain to get to our school, sit through class, and hurry to our MUN advisor’s classroom when it got to three o’clock. We were were equally passionate about learning, debating and critically thinking about the different crises or current events each week with our classmates.

As school progressed, we each became presidents of the club, spending hours at home researching, making presentations and handouts, and creating games to test our peers on their MUN and world knowledge. Though we were in the thick of MUN, completely immersed in every conference and meeting, we felt removed from the events we were actually talking about. We’d discussed every economic, political, and social issue at length, but still felt like we were on the sidelines, looking over them but not engaging fully.

Problem solving is a core part of the MUN experience. The goal of each committee is to produce a resolution that mirrors those produced by the United Nations that offers solutions to pressing issues. Delegates have to answer every what, who, how, when and why question that is thrown at them during debate while staying sensitive to the values of the countries they are representing and so build valuable critical thinking and problem solving skills. These are the most valuable skills Maryam and I learned by participating in MUN and the skills that inspired us to step beyond MUN by setting up our charitable project, the Maharat Sewing Project.

Maharat targeted one of the biggest problems of our region at the time- the refugee crisis. A topic that came up time and time again in MUN, we couldn’t help but feel this was the most pressing issue to us. My sister and I, armed with our MUN knowledge, set off to Jordan to develop a small sewing center in Dhlail, near the Jordanian border with Syria, where Syrian and Palestinian refugee and impoverished Jordanian women would be taught how to sew. The women would be able to graduate from the sewing course with valuable and employable skills that would help them provide an income for their family.

We returned to Saudi Arabia with ideas flowing and the project already in motion. With her experience in sewing, Maryam was able to write a suitable and practical curriculum for the women to learn. I began organising fabric drives, football tournaments, and auctions to raise resources for Maharat. We returned to Jordan and in association with the Dhlail Women’s Centre, the Maharat Sewing Project launched in May 2014.

What began as a topic we had discussed in MUN, resulted in the launch of a charitable project that is on it’s way to becoming self-sustaining and has seriously impacted the community that it’s based in. The women that complete the course are able to come back and use our facilities to jump-start their own businesses, support their families, and most importantly, meet and befriend other like-minded and driven women in the same situation.

Maryam and I have since graduated from high school and retired from Model United Nations. However, if it weren’t for our commitment to MUN and our constant exposure to the important events and issues around which it centres, Maharat would have never come to fruition. It was able to spark an interest which ignited a project that has far outlasted our days of MUN.

For more information go to http://maharatsewing.blogspot.nl/.