My Experience As a Harvard MUN Delegate

It was my first experience as a delegate to the 13th edition of Harvard Model United Nations India, conducted from August 12th to 15th 2023 Bengaluru. Every year, HMUN India sees hundreds of delegates from across India and around the world come together to debate and develop solutions for some of the most pressing issues on the planet. Our conference theme –was Exploring New Horizons – recognises the bold actions that our generation needs to take in the coming years and how we can adopt this constantly changing world by pushing our boundaries in order to accomplish the goals that we have set for ourselves. I applied for this conference by answering the questions mentioned below. However I didn’t get the country of my choice , I worked really hard to understand the problems faced by Nicaragua in today’s time with the aim to achieve the target of universal education for all

Question 1. Please describe your previous experiences with HMUN India and Model UN in general. If you do not have Model UN experience, please describe relevant experiences such as debate, public speaking, or mock trial. Please add dashes to the end of your response if you feel your answer is sufficient (to hit the 150 minimum character count.)

Answer: Unfortunately, I have not had the pleasure to participate in a prior HMUN, nevertheless, I have participated in a youth parliament before and – it was glorious (perhaps partly because I acquired a shiny new medal). I was in the national security council as the Head Of Navy: an officer responsible to protect my countries citizens from the waves and work with the other ministers to ensure the same -working with the Prime Minister and having meetings to counter China’s tactics on the South China Sea was so much fun! Along with that I have also participated in countless public speaking competitions such as declamations about various national leaders and Shakespearean monologues ( all of which I have been fortunate enough to be mentioned) and debates and besides making me ardour them they have also made me the person I am today. The amalgamate of working together as a team and liaison while inspiring as well as getting inspired by the dynamism is truly something addictive. All that aside, the ecstatic anticipation and adrenaline rush on coming on a stage is something I could never willingly give up

Question 2. Is there a country or region of the world in which you are particularly interested? Please add dashes to the end of your response if you feel your answer is sufficient (to hit the 150 minimum character count.)

Answer: I am exceptionally interested in USA and China, as the dynamic between these two countries as well as their inner peculiarities is something you could debate incessantly about and perhaps would go a long way in understanding these countries from a true delegates perspective.

Question 3. Do you have a preference for or against double delegations? Please add dashes to the end of your response if you feel your answer is sufficient (to hit the 150 minimum character count.

Answer: Yes, I do have an inclination towards working in double delegations as working together is efficient and an esprit de corps in a debate is essential. Besides that meeting new people and understanding and getting introduced to a myriad of ideas, prespectives, contentions as well as opinions is one of the main reasons I would love to work in a double delegation.

I was nominated as a delegate from the Country “ NICARAGUA” under Director Shameel Aubeelauck For Committee “THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS EMERGENCY FUND ( UNICEF) with the Agenda of “ UNIVERSAL EDUCATION” and I was supposed to write a position paper for my country before going to the conference.

Country: Nicaragua

Committee: The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

Topic: position Paper on Universal Education

1. Background History of Nicaragua

1. My country has a rich history of literacy almost as colourful as its colonial past. It does however have its darker periods i.e., referring to before Sandinista era. When the Sandinistas came to power in 1979, they inherited an education system that was one of the worst maintained and set about in all of Latin America. Under the Somoza’s, due to the increase in poverty may of the adolescents were forced into the labour market consequently leaving schools and this collectively constricted educational opportunities for Nicaraguans. “In the late 1970s, only 65% of primary school-age children were enrolled in school; of those who entered first grade only 22% completed the full six years of the primary school curriculum. Most rural schools offered only one or two years of schooling, and three-quarters of the rural population was illiterate”.[1]. During this time achieving secondary education became too expensive for the average families and rich families sent their children abroad. About only 8% of the country’s populous achieved education in its universities (quite a high estimate for that time). By 1984 a few reforms by the government almost doubled the amount of GNP going into educational institutions thus bring about a massive change in the literacy scenes of the country and doubling the number of educators, institutions, and students alike. This was then followed by a literacy campaign in 1980 using secondary school students as volunteer teachers -“ reduced the illiteracy rate from 50% to 23% of the population. After the 1990 election, the Chamorro government placed education in the hands of critics of Sandinista policy, who imposed more conservative values on the curriculum. A new set of textbooks was produced with support from the United States Agency for International Development (AID), which had provided similar help during the Somoza era”[2,1].

2. Despite the governments best efforts to increase the literacy of the country in the 1980 most of the country remained illiterate. Going before even the Contra War (the Nicaragua Revolution that saw a rise of a dictatorship during 1970’s and 1980’s) the country was straining to keep the education system running and was not able to bear on with the rapidly increasing numbers of students. At the end of the Sandinista era, the literacy rate had fallen and the rise in the literacy brought by the campaign fell back. Overall school enrolments were larger than they had been in the 1970s, however. “Especially in the countryside, access to education had broadened dramatically. But a substantial minority of primary school-age children and three-quarters of secondary school-age students were not in school, and the proportion of students who completed their primary education had not advanced beyond the 1979 level. Even by Central American standards, the Nicaraguan education system was performing poorly”[2].

3. The country boasts many commercial schools and eight universities the oldest which being the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua founded in 1812 during the Spanish colonisation. Admission to higher education is based on the Bachillerato (a secondary school qualification). “Students are also subject to an entrance examination. The Licenciado, the main undergraduate degree, is a four- or five-year course of study. A professional title may be awarded depending on the subject. Following the Licenciado, the first postgraduate degree is the Maestria, which lasts two years and culminates with the submission of a thesis. Institutions of higher learning can offer two- or three-year courses in technical and vocational education. The main qualification studied for is the Tecnico Superior”[1].

2. Real problem and Efforts made over the years :

1. There are over 30 public universities and over 75 private institutions in the country currently. Now the education in Nicaragua is free for all its citizens. The secondary education in the country is free and compulsory (as enforced by the NCE).

2. However, In Nicaragua, education is not equally accessible to all, even though primary education is compulsory. The government has not yet found the necessary tools to instigate accessible community action and counter the factors that keep students from enrolling in primary or secondary education and the compulsion is not strictly implemented. According to The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) – “Nicaragua is fulfilling only 73.7% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country’s level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education”[1]. “While taking into consideration Nicaragua’s income level, the nation is achieving 92.3% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 55.1% for secondary education”. Not only that other factors such as weather as well the accessibility and transport also limit the number of students attending schools and most students drop out of school by the time they reach secondary school, a sad picture of reality.

3. These problems faced by Nicaragua with reference to education are not only native to the country but are a much-experienced phenomenon throughout the world (especially in under-developed as well as developing countries). Most countries despite putting in efforts to introduce or promote education are lacking figuratively as well as literally on both funds and in efforts put. Elementary education is a fundamental right (one that is more often than not overlook in many cultures and countries). Education not only enriches the minds of the population so that they can make better decisions for themselves, but it also increases the quality of human resources of a country consequently increasing its economy and GDP and promoting its overall development in all sectors (predominantly the tertiary). This basic right that it is, is unfortunately, often times grossly overlooked in hindsight. About 1/3 of the world countries do not have proper education systems set in place and most underdeveloped countries have literacy rates as low as 63%. We as the population of the world should come together to improve and increase the quality as well as accessibility of education for all, thus, at least trying to get close to this utopian idea of universal education i.e., education for all.

3. The topics that I would like to propose a policy on are as follows in a list formatting:

1. UNICEF sanctioned policy to provide funds to underdeveloped countries to promote as well as increase the involvement in educational institutions, construction of schools and promoting awareness on education.
2. A worldwide education awareness program which involves surveys of root problems of underdeveloped countries.
3. Promotion and adoption of other education policies adopted by other countries that might be impactful if modified or used in a context of another country.
4. Promotion of other financial aid policies.
5. Spreading of awareness among the population.
References taken from Wikipedia[2] as well as borgenproject.org[3] and Education in Nicaragua | K12 Academics [2]

During my stay , I got the opportunity to participate in various conference , debates sessions, to interact with various speaker, past alumina of Harvard’s who were guiding us in following our dreams, we as a delegates after much deliberation and discussion prepared working paper that aims to solve the problem faced by the under developed and undeveloped countries in achieving the target of “ Universal Education for All”. In this process a working paper was prepared “ ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL” that highlight our view and the future course of action agreed by all the signatories’ member countries including mine. The same is reproduced below:

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
Signatories :Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Brazil, Mozambican, Iceland, Honduras, South Sudan, Korea, Haiti, Ethiopia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Norway, Thailand, Usa,Nigeria,Portugal,Canada,Kenya,Greece,Rwanda,Switzerland,Venezuela,Indonesia,Belize,Bulgaria,Dominican republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru, Angola, Australia, Cuba, man, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, New Zealand, Nepal, Argentina, Philippines, Mexico, Afghanistan, morocco, tunisia,denmark,georgia,Lebanon,chile,chad,algeria,poland,CAR,mauritius,rwanda,columbia,

Sponsors: Lebanon, Belize, Syria, Iran, Congo, Angola, Burundi, Chile

Aim of the Ongoing Session of the UNICEF,

1. Takes note of the need for accountability of funds given with the purpose of education, regardless of the source;
2. recommends the prioritisation of rebuilding education systems in post-conflict regions, and potential integration in the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping forces;
3. recommends the implementation of an early recovery framework within each Member states’ educational systems;
4. Recommends the creation of a temporary task force mandated with the purpose of assisting nations in integrating early recovery framework within their educational systems in order to prevent future shocks in the educational system;
5. Recommends the need to increase national investment into information and technology services (ITC) Technology efficient learning tools(TELL) and online resources advancement;
6. Urges countries to provide equitable distribution of broadband
   1. Use local and national data to determine the areas most in need
   2. Increase public-private partnership for broadband access

• Reduce government taxation for given areas iv) Making use of IXPs to reduce the cost of broadband per country

7. Urges member LIC’s to design a new funding allotment system making sure that the educational sector gets at least the UN Requirement of 6% of the nations GDP as well as 15% of the public spending.
8. Emphasises the importance of modern infrastructure and curriculums embracing multiculturalism in regards to education and asks nations to start developing the same.
9. Calls upon member HIC’s to provide financial aid to countries so that they can fund education effectively.
10. Urges nations to open necessary services such as transportation so that children can transport to schools and back without any obstacles.
11. Requests LIC’s to make education mandatory till at least the age of 15 and make primary education completely free resulting in higher accessibility to education as well as rising literacy rates.
12. Recommends countries increase the testing for identification of dyslexia, and other related special needs in students; and integrate the needs of these students in their holistic education;
13. Requesting governments to increase accountability of their education systems, and parental involvement;
14. Recommends nations include digital literacy and digital skills as a requirement in the achievement levels of students and ensure accountability and implementation of these skills across public and private schools;
15. Strongly recommends governments to take action to reduce gender barriers and improve education access for girls, by
16. Conducting large-scale awareness campaigns, mainly through social media platforms, to combat gender stereotypes,
17. Add various policies making the participation of the female children a compulsion or benefit and having reserved seats,

• Ensuring safer ways of commuting for the children as well as increasing awareness about education – especially in the rural areas,

1. Taking measures to prevent child marriages, which impacts female children from rural areas in particular,
2. Opening remedial learning centres to help young mothers and pregnant girls catch up and continue learning, including the provision of career counselling services,
3. Strengthen initiatives already taken by the UNICEF and other UN bodies in the aspect of gender equality;
4. Recognizes the need for a more refined definition of ‘education equity’ in education systems,
5. Notes that socioeconomic conditions outside of schooling as factors that impede equity including but not limited to; socioeconomic status, race, geographical location, etc,
6. Recognises that education equity should also be determined by a basic achievement level for each student which includes:
7. Reading Literacy,
8. Basic mathematical skills,
9. Digital Literacy skills;

• Emphasises for the above definition to be adopted by the respective education ministries and institutions and regulated in private schools;

17. Emphasise the need of training programs for the most efficient use of technologically enabled learning programs,

1. Such programs should provide training to teachers to ensure they are confident with the material,
2. Training programs for students to ensure that they are able to make efficient use of said materials;
3. Combatting urban and rural disparities by:

• providing targeted assistance and creating customised programmes to students by collaborating with the local communities to cater to their needs and challenges.
• offering scholarships to economically disadvantaged families, ensuring a fair distribution of educational resources .
• developing a curriculum that reflects local cultures, traditions and languages
• Granting an easy access to digital libraries and online resources that can be used by rural students easily.
• Unity learning spaces for students in rural areas a group studies for better quality of understanding.

19. Recommends countries work with UNSPIDER in the collection of data regarding natural disasters, and formulate an efficient system of communication with schools;
20. Emphasises on the need for rehabilitation of students affected by the pandemic in terms of education;
21. Countries can set up a committee to monitor the expenditures of the funds provided by them. The committee can collaborate with the UN and monitor how these funds are being utilised and conduct periodic inspections to check the developments made by the country using their funds.
22. Urges countries to encourage Private Public Partnerships, through measures such as, but not limited to:
23. Reducing barriers to entry such as permit restrictions, tax concessions and the cost of registration for companies that agree to provide internet access to one remote rural area.
24. Mandating the conduction of digital literacy programmes for locals in the rural area.
25. Find alternatives to zero-rating educational content, keeping in mind laws on net neutrality, such as by allowing telecom operators to charge a minimum price on their educational services to prevent the existence of a competitive advantage.
26. Facilitating agreements with technology providers to initiate a ‘student package’, where they provide subsidised laptops and tablets for students.

23. Calls upon High Income countries such as Denmark, Oman and Chile to create funding plans to assist developing countries address educational disparities, which will be used for purposes such as, but not limited to:
24. Teacher training programs for teachers in the developing nations, including on how to utilise digital learning platforms.
25. Cash-based assistance to low-income families to assist them in purchasing technological devices.
26. Curation of Open Educational resources, which will have lesson plans and videos suited to the national curriculum of the developing country, by leveraging existing platforms developed by the HICs.

Helping infrastructure development and vocational education opportunities in public schools.