LSPR Youth Diplomacy Community (YDC) held London School Model United Nations (LSMUN) conference on June 21-22, 2019, which took place in LSPR Sudirman Park Campus, Jakarta. With the grand theme “Humanity in a State of Anarchy”, the conference was a simulation of two councils; United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Each council brought to the table subtopics on “Maintaining Security & Peace Amidst the Indo-Pakistani War in Kashmir”, and “Question of Quality Education for Child Refugees”, respectively.
This annual event was held for the first time in 2018 and aims to stimulate discussion and simulate international organizations by providing an open dialogue in which the participants role-play delegates to the United Nations. The participants were from both internal and external members of the community, with delegates from 18 countries; Afghanistan, Australia, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Kosovo, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines, Peru, Saudi Arabia, United States, and Venezuela.
In the UNICEF chamber, which took place in Prof. Dr. Djajusman Auditorium & Performance Hall, the discussion consisted of dialogues regarding curriculum, education accessibility, and human resource problems in refugee education. The delegate of Australia, Alita Mislia, expressed her opinions on the topic “Question of Quality Education for Child Refugees”. While other delegates raised intellectual motions, Alita raised emotional and mental health issues, and methodical solutions for the problems. She also shared how she prepared for the conference, including her personal experience of studying in Australia. Prior to the conference she had read about Australia’s educational system regarding refugee children, current international issues and the way Australia act on them.
The Committee Chair of the conference, Nugroho Indra Putranto, also voiced his take on the conference. He said, “The conference was very fruitful despite there being a lot of first-timers, they have many ideas that can actually be applied and collaborated with between countries.” He also mentioned that he hoped the delegates would collaborate, engage, and connect with each other to generate more ideas, solutions, and arguments. (Puella)