“What do you want your future to look like? What are you doing to make sure it is safe and secure?” A question Ms. Charlene Ruto posed to us, the leaders of tomorrow, during her keynote address at the Kenya Model United Nations (KMUN) 2023 Conference week, stirred thoughts in the minds of the youth present. “The future is here.”

For the 22nd Session of the Kenya Model United Nations (2022/2023), the overarching theme of the year was “The Future We Want”. Throughout the year, various events and activities were organized to push forward this particular agenda for the youth, who are the custodians of the future. From the ‘Warm Up Challenge’, to the ‘Intervarsity Debate’, to the ‘Youth Leadership Peace Summit’, to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Mock Debate, each geared up to the culmination of the session, an eventful week-long Conference.

6th March – 10th March 2023 marked the grand return to the United Nations Office Nairobi (UNON), since the 19th Session in 2019. All thanks to great efforts of Sam Mue, Secretary General and Jemmy Kamau, Deputy President of the General Assembly together with the 22nd Session National Secretariat as the organizing/planning committee, for making it a grand success and a memorable one.

The Conference attracted over 800 university students across Kenya, including high school students from Brookhurst International School, passionately eager to voice their innovative solutions for a sustainable future in the various committees; such as the Security Council, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), UN WOMEN, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM), International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Law Commission (ILC). In these committees, they extensively deliberated on issues of global concern such as access to education, climate change, gender equality and youth innovation. In addition, the conference provided an opportunity for students to engage in diplomatic discourse and hone their negotiation and public speaking skills.

Plenary sessions

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build the youth for the future.”-  Nadia Abdalla, Former Chief Administrative Secretary.

Each day of that week was strategically planned to delve deeper in addressing a specific Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) with a vast panel from various industries and organizations such as Strathmore Law School, Plan International, Global Peace, Kenya UNESCO Youth, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Rachier and Amollo Advocates, and UNICAF, just to mention a few. From Youth Empowerment to transforming education to Gender Equality, to Climate change and Innovation, all interactions activated the drive towards addressing change in society.

We were honoured to be graced by the presence of Ambassadors and Dignitaries from various embassies such as; H.E Michael Lotem, Israel Ambassador to Kenya,  H.E Gunnar Andreas Holm, Norwegian Ambassador to Kenya, H. E Abderrazzak Laassel, Moroccan Ambassador to Kenya. Their speeches were enlightening and thought-provoking as they shared insights on the future of diplomacy and global governance as well as encouraged us, the youth, to continue in our pursuit for change.

Awards

Strathmore University students were not left out as they plugged in participating in the aforementioned committees. Equally, their stellar performance in the simulations were recognized as they secured numerous awards as follows;

United Nations Security Council – Special Mentions; Gregory Wamalwa representing Armenia and Reuben James representing USA

United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) – Most Diplomatic; Stephen Mwaura representing Ukraine

Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) –  Most Diplomatic – Chintali Delgahange representing Uganda

UN Women – Most diplomatic; Natalie Mwiti representing Australia and Special Mention Livia Macharia representing Afghanistan

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – Special Mention Slovenia- Michael Kimathi and Darlene Wanjiku Muthoni – Netherlands.

Beyond Conference Week

“For the future you and I want, be bold. Be disruptive.” Stephen Ligunya, partner at Rachier Advocates. The onus is on us as drivers of change.

Strathmore University is a chapter of the KMUN society. If you’re interested in joining this club, kindly send an email to kmun@strathmore.edu. To stay tuned on the upcoming events, you can also follow their social media platforms; Twitter @Kenyamun2023 and Instagram @KenyaMUN

 

 

What’s your story? We’d like to hear it. Contact us via communications@strathmore.edu