Bangkok--27 Sep--AIT
For the 350 young college and university students, many of whom entered the portals of a United Nations building for the first time, it was a dream come true. For them to act as representatives of various countries, debate and deliberate like them and finally vote on important motions, is a once in a lifetime experience. As Mr. Shun-ichi Murata, Deputy Executive Secretary, ESCAP pointed out that participants “enter as junior delegates but leave as ambassadors.”
In the precincts of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, student representatives from 46 countries assembled to participate in the Asia-Pacific International Model United Nations (APMUN) event. At the inaugural on 20 September 2012, Prof. Said Irandoust, President of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) remarked that planet earth was no longer silent, and it was shouting louder about interdependence of every human, including that of the next generation. Planet earth is shouting that “there is no longer any credible pursuit of happiness if it is not the happiness of every child, every woman, every man on Earth. To understand and to act on our common destiny is the main ethical must of every responsible person,” he averred.
The AIT President stated that AIT is proud and honored to have taken the lead in creating the first Asia-Pacific International Model United Nations Conference at University level. The purpose is to provide such a privileged atrium of consultation and debate on the culturally diverse aspirations of young leaders of the world, he said. President Irandoust added that the timing of the event is auspicious since this is the first major such event being convened under AIT's status as an international intergovernmental organization. “We are delighted that Cambodia is the latest country to ratify AIT's new charter, aside from Japan, Sweden, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Vietnam,” he said.
Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific spoke about the impending food availability crisis. We live in one world, on one planet and share the same earth, water and atmosphere. Yet one in every seven suffers
from lack of nutrition. One billion suffer from lack of food, while another billion are overweight. Mr. Konuma remarked that food production will have to be increased by 60 per cent in order to feed the estimated 9.2 billion population by 2050.
Addressing the young delegates, Mr. Shun-ichi Murata, Deputy Executive Secretary, ESCAP remarked that the genesis of conflict is often based on disparities. Youngsters can be catalysts of change. Welcoming the delegates on behalf of the Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Noeleen Heyzer, Mr. Murata described participants as “leaders of the future.”
Mr. Abramo A. Chabib of AIT, who was the Master of Ceremonies, described APMUN as an experimental laboratory to prepare youngsters for the next level of decision making. According to Dr. Sandro Calvani, ARCMDG Director and the leading force behind the event, "APMUN ( http://www.asiapacificmun.org/ ) has been established in order to offer students the unique opportunity to experience first-hand the practical application of what they have been learning in their higher education in international affairs. Often students do not understand or do not get the feelings of how the government leaders perform when they meet in institutional consultations on global public goods".
Photo Caption: Students from 46 countries are participating the event.