On March 1-3, 2024, the 30th session of Colombo Organised Model United Nations (COMUN) shall be held, the oldest MUN in Sri Lanka. COMUN is a three-day long conference where the brightest young minds come together to discuss relevant global issues in a model UN session, attracting over 400 participants from all around Sri Lanka. Ever since COMUNs beginning, OSC has had a key role in organising and and running the sessions, with OSCs students encouraged to take on leadership roles. This year OSC will have two students in the Secretariat of COMUN, Aura Datta as the Secretary General and myself as the Head of Operations.
Although most of the people at OSC’s MUN after school activity are not yet considering COMUN, I have been helping Aura interview student leaders from other COMUN schools, all of whom are applying and being considered for the Secretariat or other leadership positions in the conference. Thus far we have decided who will fill the rest of the roles in the Secretariat and have met once to discuss early ideas regarding conference planning. The members are as follows: Aura Datta, Secretary General; Varshan Dayapathy, Under Secretary General; Miteish Shanker, President of General Assemblies; Tashiyana Devaranjan, Head of Administration; and Luka Traveller, Head of Operations. [Edit: Find more information regarding the Secretariat here.]
Additionally, I has been working at fulfilling my role as Head of Operations by curating a list of possible sponsors for COMUN and sending out prospectus emails, introducing the cause and seeking financial aid. Thus far I have sent about 50 emails to globally minded embassies and NGOs as well as to Sri Lankan corporations. I have since received a few replies, most promising of whom was from the US embassy in Colombo. Since then I have sent out a funding application through the US embassy’s “Small and Mighty” grant program.
As well as seeking funding, I have been helping Aura run some of OSCs MUN after school activity sessions, where we have been introducing the students with the ins and outs of COMUN; what it is, when it is, how it works, what roles they may take during the conference and what those roles entail. For future sessions we plan to have students run a practice MUN style debate where they ach represent various countries’ interests. This will give them more experience in research, debate and formal writing, as well as introducing them to key MUN terms they will need to know during the conference.
Learning Outcomes:
- LO1: Demonstrates awareness of strengths and areas for growth.
- LO2: Demonstrates initiation of student led activities.
- LO5: Demonstrates collaboration and working with others.
- LO6: Demonstrates work with global values.
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