Fahmida Faiza and SIM Shadman Sheikh, students of London College of Legal Studies (South), were selected to participate in a United Nations training this year. One of the most prestigious programmes held at the UN Headquarters in New York, designed to train organisers of Model United Nations (MUN) across the world.
Faiza and Sheikh were the first ever Bangladeshis to be selected for this training and were among the selected 80 out of 50,000 applicants worldwide. The workshop was organised and conducted by the UN Department of Public Information and UN Institute of Training and Research.
“MUN is not a mere conference, it is a passion,” Faiza told the Dhaka Tribune.
The training hosted various MUN organisers from all over the world and prestigious institutions such as Princeton University and Harvard University. Both Faiza and Sheikh said they were amazed to learn that there were people who, after graduating from university, continue to do MUN for the rest of their lives.
They also learned about the different ways in which other MUNs operate. Since MUN is organised by local sponsors, different versions of it are carried out in each country. For example, India has had Hogwarts-themed MUNs.
Since they were the first Bangladeshis to attend this training, their arrival and participation were much celebrated. “They knew our names the moment we told them we were from Bangladesh,” Sheikh told the Dhaka Tribune.
The struggle for success
Despite coming such a long way, they had been facing extreme difficulties in securing sponsorship for the training, and received harsh responses from many corporate officials they approached.
According to their account, some renowned banks kept them waiting for months before rejecting their request. Some expressed annoyance at being “disturbed” by their calls during office hours.
Both Faiza and Sheikh felt that this opportunity to represent Bangladesh was highly underestimated and discouraged by these organisations.
Their struggle reached the peak when they were harshly reminded that some organisations prefer to highlight only the “successful stories,” not the struggle stories of the “losers.”
“At the end of the day, we felt like beggars,” Faiza said.
However, they got lucky when Faiza managed to secure a scholarship from the United Nations itself – which only 5 out of the 80 final participants are entitled to.
Sheikh managed to pull through with collective funds from Apex, the Daily Manob Jomin and some private companies.
Impressions and inspirations
As first-ever Bangladeshis to attend the training, the pair left quite an impression. In order to represent Bangladesh, Faiza wore a saree everyday – representing each of our unique textiles everyday ranging from Jamdani to Maslin.
Many at the training said they were impressed and inspired with the duo’s participation. The MUNs from Germany, the Netherlands and India offered to work with them in the future.
“It was nice to be honoured this way after such humiliation,” Sheikh said, referring to the challenges they faced while managing sponsorship.
The pair even had the opportunity to observe an ongoing emergency security council meeting on Syria and Cuba. Faiza and Sheikh plan to use their training to raise awareness about the MUN.
Faiza added: “The negotiation skills you learn at the MUN can be implemented in many places. When our bus fare or sugar price increases, people resort to violence, instead of negotiating.
Negotiation is something we need to practice as a country, and the MUN is where it can begin.”
