To celebrate World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, 2020, International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA) Paklihawa and Alliance Against AMR jointly organized the Model United Nations (MUN) Online Conference on the title of “Tackling AMR: Securing Future from Superbugs”. The event was organized from 18th to 20th November on the Zoom platform with virtual interactions.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is one of the major challenges of our time. Without effective antimicrobials, AMR is creating 'Superbugs' where common infections will become life-threatening and treatments such as surgical procedures and chemotherapy would not be possible. International and national efforts to combat AMR have grown steadily over the last two decades.
The event had three days workshop before the initiation of the main event where the Dias members, assisted and instructed all the delegates of the respective countries about various processes and procedures of Model United Nations (MUN). The Dias members constituted the Chair; Ms. Prasamsha Ghimire, Co-Chair; Ms. Priya Lamichhane, Director: Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma, and Moderator; Ms. Rit Shrestha.
Day 1: On 18th November 2020, the grand first-ever IVSA Paklihawa & AAA MUN began with an opening ceremony and speech from the representatives of both of the organizations. Mr. Aashish Adhikari (President, IVSA Nepal) talked about IVSA, its activities and why this MUN is necessary for the students. The session began with Roll Call and General Speaker List. 3 moderated Caucuses were discussed:
1) Sales of antibiotics over the counter in pharmacies 10mins/1min
2) Food Safety Regarding AMR
3) Economic Implications of AMR
After this, the session ended with an unmoderated caucus. The session lasted for 4 hours.
Day 2: On 19th November 2020, The session resumed with General Speakers List and continued with moderated Caucus where the following topics were discussed:
1) AMR and COVID 19
2) Partnership Diplomacy to tackle AMR
3) Role of Veterinary Medicine in AMR
4) National health strategies and policies to tackle AMR
After the moderated caucuses, the session ended in 4hrs with an unmoderated caucus where delegates were assigned to prepare a working paper. The delegates had a thorough discussion with themselves for the next 4 hrs and prepared a working paper.
Day 3: On 20th November 2020, the session resumed with the presentation of the working paper and formulation of the resolution. With all the votes in the quorum, the resolution passed, and successfully MUN was conducted. The session continued by sharing experiences by delegates, dais members, and ended with a remarkable closing speech from Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma (President, IVSA Paklihawa).
Outcome:
These three days MUN was really an effective program for students where they got a chance to improve their research skills, writing skills, speaking skills, communication skills, debating and diplomating skills as well. So, this first-ever MUN has been very fruitful to the selected 27 delegates representing different countries from different parts of the world.
On the 24th of November, the first-ever IVSA Paklihawa & AAA MUN Online Conference's closing ceremony took place. This closing ceremony was hosted by Mr. Prakash Rawal (Secretary, IVSA Paklihawa) and opening speeches were given by Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma (President, IVSA Paklihawa) and Ms. Rit Shrestha (Scientific Coordinator, Student Working Committee, AAA).
In the informal session, Mr. Ashwini Kumar Jha (Exchange Officer, IVSA Paklihawa) entertained Kahoot game and Ms. Pema Sherpa (Standing Committee Chair, IVSA Paklihawa) sang a song. Also, Ms. Prakriti Gurung and Ms. Samikshya Bhushal (ExCo Member, IVSA Paklihawa) sang songs and Ms. Sijal Rijal performed a live dance performance. The session was really interesting and exciting!
The session ended after the award was announced by Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma (Director, IVSA Paklihawa and AAA MUN):
1) Best Delegate: Ms. Aarya Mishra (Kingdom of Sweden)
2) Best Strategist: Ms. Usha Khatri (Republic of Fiji)
3) Outstanding Delegate: Ms. Nutan Poudel (Republic of Philippines)
4) Best Position Paper: Ms. Ashima Gautam (Republic of South Africa)
5) Honorable Mentions:
a) Mr. Dipak Acharya (Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal)
b) Ms. Agrata Chapagain (United Kingdom)
c) Ms. Priyanka Tualachan (The Socialist Republic of Vietnam)
The battle against AMR is still going on and it will continue until we win!! Finally, a week-long effort to celebrate World Antimicrobials Awareness Week (WAAW) ended with a hope that the Superbugs will get minimized with our continuous effort and handling antimicrobials with care.
