I'd like to share my experience on this conference I took part in, below are the pics of our 3 BODSs which are our BOARD OF DIRECTORS who were so amazing but very strict too😊🌸
So after I have applied and all procedures were followed I was allocated to a country which I'll represent at the conference. So I was allocated to Zimbabwe and my council allocation was UNWTO which stands for UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION. The topic was on Sustainable Tourism Recovery in the Post-COVID-19 Era. However before you part take you'd have already submitted your position paper, now a position paper is a document were by you talk about the stance of your country, past actions, how that country combatted this action and what solutions has it come up with.
It was very important that you submit this position paper as it will make you eligible for any award be it Best Position Paper or other awards.
When it came to Time Zones they were quite a bit not fair as they used GMT+7 Jakarta time. Meaning that if the first committee session is on 8:30 am in South African time I'd have to at least wake up by 2:30 is it will start at 3:30 am in South African time. Other countries had also experienced the same thing as well however it was worth it.
We got to take part in group work as well whereby we draft a resolution. Now this is a document whereby as delegates, we come with a solution to solve real life problems, so I was part of bloc 2 and we won so our draft resolution was passed, meaning that it shall be passed to the UN assembly (if my memory serves me right).
As a delegate that represented Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 I didn't win. However I wasn't there for a win but to actually gain experience, now I'm more smarter than I was, my critical thinking skills and diplomatic skills are polished and my analytical skills as well. I've made new friends as well and more connections now.
I hope to take part again in September( if NMU is willing to sponsor me again 😅). Other than that we now wait for our certificates which shall be sent probably next week or later.
I learnt a lot from this conference, from our Rappateur who's only 16 years old to our Chair who's also a University student who's from Kenya. This showed me that indeed young people are doing the most and are serious about life.
Below I'll share some pics as well 😊 🌸 including the closing ceremony, where by we were asked to put on our traditional attire.
Most importantly I'd like to thank Dr Paul (Tai - Hing) for ensuring that I get funded, it wouldn't have been impossible without you. Thank you so much.
- Ms Monalisa Mapapu
