(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Fazeena Saleem I The Peninsula
The eighth annual THIMUN Qatar conference opened yesterday involving more than 1,800 local, regional and international students to role-play as diplomats and ambassadors through imitation sessions of United Nations (UN). Among them 20% are Qatari students participating in various roles.
The three-day event being held at the Qatar National Convention Centre was officially launched with a colourful flags procession. It was attended by Dr Bahia Tahzib Lie, Ambassador of Netherlands to Qatar and Neil Walsh, Chief of Cybercrime and Anti Money Laundering Section at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The theme of eight THIMUN Qatar is ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions,' inspired by UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16).
THIMUN Qatar, organised by Qatar Foundation's Pre-University Education. Participants will discuss, debate, and propose solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.
THIMUN Qatar has seen an steady increase in number of participants and it has grown by 500 from last year. THIMUN Qatar has almost doubled in size in the last four years, increasing steadily and expanding into new countries, and now it has 14 different countries in attendance including Qatar.
'The impact of THIMUN Qatar is in developing diplomacy, global citizenship and promoting advocacy.
Over the years we have graduated over 6,000 students through our programs, and through participation, they learn the possibilities of their own voice, in a student led environment.
They become aware of human rights issues and humanitarian problems, the complexities of effecting social change and they learn that their world is bigger than they imagined, Fatima El Mahdi, Head of THIMUN Qatar told The Peninsula.
'This year we have 350 Qatari students participating in various roles. While, all participants who function as delegates must represent their assigned country in resolving the issues on the UN agenda in a simulated UN debate, whilst maintaining their country's national interests. Other category as press will function as reporters, videographers, photographers, editors and in social media, they will put together an entire news publication to record and promote the conference.
The student officer and executives chair and lead debates with over 100 members, she added.
Students from other countries, include Japan, US, UK, India, Bangladesh, and, for the first time in THIMUN Qatar's history, Azerbaijan.
As part of the event, THIMUN Qatar will also be collaborating with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's Education for Justice initiative, which will see many UNODC officials serve as session speakers.
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