Valentina Raymond

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Sin duda la economía es uno de los principales elementos afectados fuertemente por la pandemia, y Fernando Naranajo nos explica los diferentes retos económicos que los gobiernos Latinoamericanos enfrentarán. Si bien es cierto, antes del COVID-19, las expectativas económicas eran buenas para el presente año, según el Banco Mundial se esperaba un crecimiento económico del 1,6% para LATAM en 2020, el crecimiento de los mercados emergentes y las economías en desarrollo pretendía acelerarse al 4,1%. No obstante estas predicciones no pudieron ser cumplidas, ya que fueron establecidas hasta el mes de enero, donde la pandemia no estaba en auge.

Basándose en un tema coyuntural, Fernando nos explica de manera detallada, los desafíos que se están presentando ante los gobiernos, tales como lo son; Garantizar un óptimo sistema de salud pública, hemos evidenciado que estos no son aptos en LATAM y existe la necesidad de inversión en la salud. Reducir el déficit fiscal, ya que si un estado está gastando más de lo que tiene, la deuda que este mantiene incrementa. Dar incentivos al sector privado, si se les inyecta liquidez a este, no se verán ahorcados con deudas e impuestos. Incrementar las plazas de empleo en cada país, se debe tomar en consideración que en toda latinoamérica se perdió entre 4.9 y 4.5% de empleo, el expositor hace énfasis que de 10 personas solo 5 de estos cuentan con un trabajo estable, los otros son informales como las ventas que se realizan en las calles. De igual manera encontramos otros retos como fomentar la inversión extranjera directa, garantizar la seguridad jurídica, liberar el comercio, y principalmente dar un pleno cumplimientos de todos los ODS.

En mano con lo mencionado, se proponen diferentes soluciones para los retos presentados, como lo es el apoyar a las PYMES, las cuales representan entre un 55 y 58%,  inyección de capital a la bolsa de valores, emisión de bonos de ayuda para las personas con escasos recursos, aplazamiento de deudas tributarias, así como consensos entre empleado y empleador para evitar despidos, situación que se pudo evidenciar de manera frecuente durante los meses de cuarentena.

Fernando nos explica la importancia del ODS 8 en este tema, objetivo que tiene como fin  “el promover el crecimiento económico sostenido, inclusivo y sostenible, el empleo pleno, productivo y el trabajo decente para todos”. Por otra parte, los participantes pudieron sumergirse en este nuevo término denominado e-commerce, el cual consiste en la compra y venta de productos o de servicios a través de internet, tales como redes sociales y otras páginas web, si mencionamos un ejemplo está Amazon, que ganó aproximadamente 13.3 billones en cuanto a ventas de productos en línea.

Fernando deja a los jóvenes diferentes alternativas para aportar con los ODS y a la economía de sus países, una de estas puede ser el generar emprendimientos e iniciar su pequeño negocio, otra opción puede ser invertir en la bolsa de valores con los ahorros disponibles, y por último, lo más recomendado, innovar para bien.

Para despedirse nuestro expositor hace hincapié en la importancia de comprender un poco más sobre este tema coyuntural, la pandemia afectó fuertemente a la economía, no solo a los Estados, si no también a sus ciudadanos. La recesión, el confinamiento, las trabas, todo esto fueron obstáculos para equiparar la economía como estaba previsto, sin embargo, con trabajo y esfuerzo se logrará el cumplimiento de los ODS.

By Shambhawi Sahoo

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Zoey Fisher & Irene Kwon are high school seniors in the USA. Zoey currently serves as the MUN Impact Global Secretary General, the executive director for Princeps Leadership Initiative and was the Co-Secretary General at GLOMUN 2020. Irene Kwon is the MUN Impact Deputy Secretary General for North America, the President  for Princeps Leadership Initiative and was also Co-Secretary General at GLOMUN 2020.

The presentation began with defining philanthropy as not just a concept of donating money for charity, but as a concept for promoting general welfare of others, whether it be through donating money or contributing your time, energy and skills. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are synonymous to philanthropy as they seek to make this world a better place to live in. The SDG targets allow you to narrow down your focus to one cause and dedicate your project to that cause. 

In the next section, the duo shared their story of working with GLOMUN, and how it turned from an MUN into an NGO. The idea of GLOMUN blossomed in the late spring when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak and most MUN conferences were cancelled. The GLOMUN organising team asked for advice from college graduates and connected with youth leaders all around the world. They created a spreadsheet to track information and tasks and used Slack to organize the committees as well as communicate effectively. Social Media played a huge role in promoting the conference. The conference charged $20 for every participant, but provided financial support to those who needed it. All earnings of the conference went towards the World Health Organization(WHO). After this successful venture, the team decided to transform GLOMUN into an NGO. It plans to donate it’s earnings to a charitable organisation. 

Zoey and Irene presented a 4-step plan to organize a project. First and foremost, choose the cause for which you want to work. Second, connect the cause to the global initiatives that are already in full flow. Third, build a team of passionate individuals who are willing to work for that cause. Fourth, plan and promote your project to ensure maximum participation. 

They provided the participants with event and program ideas to work for a cause. Debates, MUN conferences, workshops, publications (such as magazines and brochures), competitions and challenges are effective ways to promote your cause. They even equipped the participants with resources which  can be used to organise events and programs.

The workshop true to its name highlighted the real essence of philanthropy and was highly resourceful for changemakers.

By Chandrasnata Mohanty

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The #100,000 Deeds campaign is a youth-driven initiative that aims to spread awareness and calls for action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Engineered by the famous brother-sister musical duo Ambi and Bindu Subramaniam from Bangalore, India; the story begins with the #10,000 Deeds campaign. The founders of the popular music academy, SaPa (Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts); initially launched the 10,000 Deeds campaign in November, 2017 in partnership with UNICEF India . They chose the 14th of November; celebrated throughout India as Children’s day; to mark the cause of impacting young minds. Some schools of Bangalore adopted the campaign and there was an overwhelming response as the participants ranged from different age groups. “There were kids as young as 3 years and as old as of the 12th grade”, shares the brother, Ambi Subramaniam.

“We made ‘Deed cards’ and brochures for the children, especially the young ones as the high schoolers could come up with their own ideas. We listed around 4-5 ideas under each SDG, in the brochure, so that if they do not have any ideas, they can refer to those. For example, for someone who is just 3 years old , they could do simple things like close the tap and save water”, recalls Bindu Subramaniam.
The brochures and Deed cards were translated into the regional language, Kannada, so that even the students of government schools could participate in the campaign. After which, the students were quite enthusiastic and happy about taking part in it. As the name of the campaign suggests, #10,000 Deeds, over 10000 students from different schools of Bangalore were a part of it and the campaign became a giant success. They also show
us their works as they composed while working on this campaign, in collaboration with Thayir Sadam Project. These can be accessed through YouTube. The link to which is as follows:
A Million Dreams : https://youtu.be/UN8x4r95rig

Superheroes without capes : https://youtu.be/gyGVv3LzxgA

Ambi and Binu are now set to launch the #100,000 Deeds campaign, globally. The launch will be in 2021, with much more outreach and students from any corner of the world are welcomed to participate in it! Schools, youth groups and individual students can take a small action to support the SDGs. That action is then recorded on a Deed Card, which is then shared with others on social media. Further planning and discussion will take place during November and December.

Our Goal is to promote #100,000 Deeds on every continent and as many countries as possible. If you are interested in promoting it in your community, well then, you’re welcome to join the #Deed Team! As this is a youth focussed initiative, the quest for interested and dedicated high school students to be a part of the #100,000 Deed Team has begun!
We had students from countries like Mexico, Philippines, India, Kuwait and Qatar as well as teachers who were very excited about the idea and contributed their ideas towards the planning of the campaign with enthusiasm. Ms. Nicola, a member of the MUN Impact Board of Directors, was one of the first to pitch in. She shared her ideas about how she as a teacher could fulfill her part in Spain.

If you think this is the perfect mould for you to fit in, click on this link and join our
mailing list! After which, you shall be notified about upcoming meetings and discussions, which are set to begin in early November.

Missed the session? Not an issue. Here is the link for you to watch it on YouTube!

Remember, every Deed counts!
Now MUN Impact is building on the creative inspiration to expand the campaign to schools around the world, setting a goal of 100,000 deeds worldwide! All the deeds together help build a wave of momentum towards achieving the SDGs.

Each day presents you with a good opportunity, to make the world a better place. The best way to change the world is one good deed at a time.
So what are you waiting for? Join us and let’s make this world a better place together.

By Meenakshi Mariappan

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Even in “a country that has experienced more than four decades of war,” Model UN has prevailed. In this session, Rahmatullah Hamdard, Sulaiman Sulaimankhil and Negina Shinwari from Afghanistan, shared their inspiring journey about how they introduced MUN in a conflict zone through the establishment of the ‘Hope for Education and Leadership in Afghanistan’ organisation (HELA). Firstly, Hamdard revealed “the different kinds of miseries” that accompanied the war by showing participants some distressing photographs of the state of the country. “The war,” he says, “is still here. The whole education system of the country was totally destroyed, it was weakened, it had no existence at the time.” Whilst this sets the context for the dire circumstances in which our speakers had to persevere, they echoed that “the children, the women, and the men chose hope over despair.”

It was in this conflict-torn backdrop that Model UN began to surface in Afghanistan, thanks to the efforts of our speakers for this session. Sulaimankhil shared the story of their modest beginnings by revealing that it all started whilst they were studying English at a UN compound with a UN representative. It was here that they came across the opportunity to participate in THIMUN Qatar 2015 as the first ever Afghan delegation to the conference. After undertaking the necessary training, the team traveled to partake in the conference, leaving as changed people with broader perspectives. They also revealed that people at the conference asked them this question: “What do you want to do when you return to your country?” And it was at this moment, that they became determined to “spread the knowledge with more Afghan youth.”

Initially, the group began the dissemination of MUN training in the country with “a small class of 10 boys and 10 girls, in a cold and dark space,” training the second Afghan delegation for THIMUN Qatar 2016. The speakers also fondly recalled the first one-committee (Security Council) conference they organised in a small office. Gradually, with the expansion of their network of donors and partners in Kabul, the group was able to organise their first, and very successful, one-day conference. “This was the time,” Sulaimankhil shared, “when the rise of MUN started in Kabul, and in Afghanistan. The youth began to understand the intellectual value of Model UN.” Shortly after, the team organised a two-day conference, and invited embassies in the region “to show them that MUN is important.” The HELA organisation now boasts an impressive record of providing over 500 students from 13 universities with MUN training each year, besides creating MUN clubs and organising several provincial conferences to select the best talents to invest in, who could then continue the legacy of spreading MUN in the country. Shinwari also mentioned that they had started the HELA women empowerment project called ‘Women in Business’ to mould the future businesswomen of the country. Moreover, the organisation had secured partnerships with the UNODC and the US embassy in Afghanistan, in addition to various others. The speakers proudly revealed that HELA had also sent delegates to conferences in India, THIMUN 2016, 2017, and 2018, and even the 15th anniversary of THIMUN at the Hague, Netherlands. 

The speakers then proceeded to share what helped them reach where they are today. Firstly, Hamdard emphasised the importance of “having the right team, having the right network.” In truth, they expressed their thanks to their “partners from different corners of the world,” Ms Martin, former head of THIMUN Qatar, Mr Newman, from John Burroughs School, Mr Eckert, and Ms Sinclair from TASMUN — all current members of the MUN Impact Board — who played a role in HELA’s story. Sulaimankhil says, “they were the right people who pushed us. They helped, trusted and supported us. And we also convinced them that we were the right people, to help more youth in Afghanistan.” 

More importantly, the speakers reinforced throughout the importance of commitment. Here, they uttered words of wisdom which hold true in any given circumstances:“If you don’t have commitment, you will never get to your goal.” They shared nostalgically that it was the “commitment of doing something, bringing some changes to our country, bring changes to the people,” which spurred their efforts further. 

Whilst they faced numerous difficulties throughout this journey, they admitted that they “never minded.” Having grown from “nothing to something,” the HELA founders remarked that “MUN is not a time-passing thing. It is about the self growth aspect, the importance it has on a country level, on an education system level.” Although they realise that “HELA is still not a mature organisation, and we still have a long way to go,” they continue to persevere because “we have to be the ones who can bring hope to the youth, the hope of leadership and the hope of standard education.” If there is anything participants were able to take away from this inspiring session, it is the power of MUN, the power of committed individuals and the power of hope.

By Angela Busheska

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In life, we all know that it is the small things that count. Imagine that beautiful sunny day, out with people who you love, eating your favorite meal with some great conversation that makes you laugh till you cry, accompanied by the sound of the chirping birds in the background. It turns out that we didn’t have to invest a fortune to be happy.

But why, why when it comes to saving CO2 emissions, we pretend that it is so difficult that we need to re-invent the wheel to be more eco-friendly?

To find the answer to this question MUN Impact Global Summit 2.0 gave me a chance to take an amazing audience on a journey where each one took the chance to be transformed into the climate hero Planet Earth deserves to have.

We started this journey in Skopje, the capital city of my country, and the city with the highest air pollution. As always we started to find the reasons, but then instead of blaming the government, we asked ourselves, what we have done to stop it? And it turned out that we weren’t much better. 

Realizing that it is never too late to change and challenge the status quo, we made a breakdown of the minor daily activities that are harmful to our environment, and thus, on the other side easy to change. Have you ever thought of doing grocery shopping on the way back home, instead of making an additional trip? Or have you ever thought that the elections are not the only way to vote, but you are doing that every single day while buying clothes and giving power to one or another company to protect or pollute our environment?

Asking and researching these thought-provoking questions, we realized that per day, each person can save around 10 kg CO2 and 1000 people can make carbon offset for one Skopje-Vienna Flight. And that is how we introduced the EnRoute application and movement, to harness the small daily activities to make a great change.

The hours I spent and the connections I made on the MUN Impact Summit were priceless. I am so glad that we have finished the session with great smiles, and confidence to be the heroes that Planet Earth deserves to have.

The full recorded session of this workshop can be accessed here.

Miguel Velasco

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A través de los tiempos, las culturas han enmarcado su identidad con el fin de identificarse históricamente ante las otras poblaciones, lo anterior ha llevado a que generen distintas formas de reconocimiento entre sí, tales como la pintura, el teatro y la música. La música es un gran punto de atención ya que en base a ella han surgido artes como la danza.

Toda evolución histórica tiene componentes que permiten identificar no solo el contexto, sino los factores incidentes en el desarrollo de una cultura, tales como sus creencias, políticas y hasta geografía, una de estos componentes es la música.

¡Y sí! Parece increíble pero la música abarca todos estos contextos, pues cada país de acuerdo a los materiales que produce, desarrolla distintos instrumentos, de la misma forma que se influye por incluso una filosofía de vida según su paisaje. El claro ejemplo es que en zonas del pacífico usen la percusión y usen ritmos movidos, distinto a sitios centrales que acuden más a instrumentos de sonidos profundos que incitan u optan más a la melancolía. Y esto no es solo por país, es en general, pues la música del llano en Ecuador no es muy distinta a la que suena en Colombia, la música está en ambas partes sin haber hecho algún tipo de protocolo para sonar parecido.

Y es allí donde surge la pregunta del instrumento; ¿Qué papel juega el instrumento? Puntualmente el más famoso de la historia: La guitarra. Conocida por tener la capacidad de sonar sola, por saber cubrir muy bien bajos y altos y acompañarse de 6 cuerdas que pareciera que fueran suficientes para el oído  humano, la guitarra es un ícono de la identidad no solo mundial sino Latinoamericana.

La guitarra significa una canción sobre la guerra, cuando hay guerra.

La guitarra significa distracción en épocas de esclavitud y crisis.

La guitarra compuso cantos a dictaduras.

La música es educación, la música es uno de los mejores soportes a los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible que hay, pues qué mejor forma de potenciar el cambio que a través del arte.

By Neha Varadharajan

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The taboos associated with menstruation and period poverty were put down with a badge of honor at one of the most exciting sessions at the MUN Impact Global Summit 2.0: a throwback to a workshop held at the last Summit and brought back by popular demand, “End Period Poverty, Decrease The Stigma 2.0”!

The presenters- Katherine Holekamp, Kate Smith and Nathaniel Doty- kicked off the much awaited presentation with a description of what period poverty actually is. “Period poverty is the circumstance of being unable to afford necessary menstrual hygiene products”, they said.

Then they went on to discuss the shocking statistics that associate with period poverty and elegantly brought attention to the issue that requires much addressal. The participants came to know that 60 percent of women in developing countries have no access to adequate menstrual products, and that an average woman spends about 18,000 USD on period products in her lifetime, among other facts. It was truly fascinating to know about, and had just touched upon the gates of a big mansion that was yet to open. 

A shocking statistic set the tone for the workshop- they said and all the participants now quote, “100 percent women deal with the stigma associated with menstruation and period poverty.”

They went on to study a geographic overview of countries and their access to sanitation and period products, including Nepal, USA and Uganda, which provided materialistic evidence for the facts introduced at the beginning of the workshop. The presenters explained with perseverance, quality and pinpoint precision. 

While the information was overly interesting and wonderful to take in, a heart-wrenching quote on their presentation read, “How many of you feel uncomfortable discussing periods, pads and tampons? We must stop stigmatizing periods.”

The workshop couldn’t be more touching. They went on to discuss the SDGs and their association with period poverty, including the obvious ones like SDG 3: Good Health and Well Being and SDG 5: Gender Equality, but also those overly unexpected ones like SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Apparently, we didn’t think of the fact that girls around the world may miss school due to falling sick from inadequate menstrual hygiene, and the same goes for women who may otherwise be able to work regularly as independent women and make a living. 

The fact that the collective future of humanity and eradicating period poverty depended on the future of women and vice versa was synonymous with their presentation and workshop. 

“But there’s still hope..” they said. And oh, how true it was, the participants thought, as they went into possible solutions as a call to action.

UNICEF, Dignity Period and a Period Tracker App were the existing solutions they discussed in vivid detail, along with cost-cutting solutions both real and virtual that could result in more affordable menstrual products- one of them being the elimination of VAT because women pay incredibly high tax rates for period product investments.

They then discussed their own drive: the GEO Tampon Drive.  They used the MUN Impact Planning Tool to shape their initiative and inspire others to do so. They planned to push some SDG Targets and get inspired to start a tampon drive with SMART solutions. They then asked themselves questions to address surrounding the issue of period poverty, all of which were filled with vital information. Then they went on to shape their initiative- the Gender Equity Organization to send menstrual products to deserving women and girls, and raising awareness through social media and collaboration, among others. They laid out synonymous goals, project dates and duration, team members and approvals, which assured the participants that the drive was a dream come true for those who don’t have adequate access to menstrual hygiene. 

“Increase awareness, decrease stigma”, they emphasized upon, and brought to the participants mottos to focus on the goals they planned to turn into realities. They laid out their project wonderfully and showed the world that they could make a big change, with distribution partners facilitated and results showcased- it was truly a proud moment for all the women and girls who aspire to see a world where period poverty is no longer a prevailing taboo.

They told the participants how to take action with a plan designed to rival every other, including showing love and support on social media and online, and communications and networks to introduce awareness and change. A lovely Q and A session succeeded the presentation which showed that the participants loved the presentation and were willing to contribute to change.

“You can do it,” they said proudly. So did we. 

The full recorded session of this workshop can be accessed here.