An Epic Debate Heats the Floor; General Assembly

By Paridhi Adhikari for TES NEWS

28 August 2024

The trial run of the General Assembly (GA) started great with a warm welcome from the Secretary-General (Sadikshya Lohani) as she highlighted the purpose of the GA. The SEC-GEN instructed every delegate to maintain the decorum of the GA while participating actively.

The formal session was officially started and the Crisis head (Kaibalya Lama Theeng) brought in the crisis which caused chaos among the delegates. The crisis captured the essence of every international committee allowing everyone to speak.

The Crisis involved an unexpected scenario of unregistered vehicles in Saudi Arabia with questionable intentions. France, Germany, Japan,and Ukraine were standing as the countries involved in the mining directly while China, Russia, and Brazil were the opposing countries. Delegates seemed interested in the crisis and eagerly discussed it with their ally countries.

As the SEC-GEN opened the floor for the Special Speaker’s List (SSL), a delegate of China from the UNEP committee (Sanskar Maharjan) started by presenting their strong views about the mining in Saudi Arabia as he stated: “The countries such as Ukraine, France, and Germany who are involved in this mining work being done are abusing small children as much as 8 years old making them work in the radioactive field.”

The situations in the GA quickly escalated as placards were raised left and right. The delegates of the USA from the DISEC committee (Progress Dhakal) and the HRC committee ( Hardik Khanal) were doing an excellent job by presenting their logical points and defending their ally countries who were accused earlier.

As the debate was going on the delegate of Brazil from the DISEC committee (Ishan Sharma) pointed out the delegates of Saudi Arabia who were silent till now. Trying to defend their delegation, the delegate of Saudi Arabia from the ECOSOC committee (Sakchyam Ghimire) stated “The country has been unaware of the illegal mining going on. The government is taking action for it.”

The delegate of Brazil from the DISEC committee (Ishan Sharma) questioned “Is the country so careless and unaware that they let international mines be open in their land without their knowing?” The SEC-GEN was impressed by this point and gave the delegate the first good point of the GA.

Amongst the intensifying debate, the country France accused China, and the delegates of Ukraine sought access to nuclear energy. The dais panel was also astonished by the delegates of Russia defending themselves and France continuing to argue its case on multiple fronts.

The delegate of the USA from the ECOSOC committee (Sujan Subedi) garnered the attention of everybody present in the GA as he stated: “Why is everybody accusing each other as believing the mysterious whistleblower who can be of any country being used for their advantage can lead to various problems and cause a huge crisis.” This point helped the delegate gain a good point.

The situation escalated with discussions around uranium use, potential child labor violations in Germany, and other pressing humanitarian concerns. The delegate of Egypt from the HRC committee (Aalekh KC) highlighted the shocking number of child labor cases in Germany, while the delegates of France pointed out Russia's harsh child labor practices. The delegate of Afghanistan from the UNEP committee (Nishchit Shrestha) raised concerns about child rights, further fueling the heated debate.

With the instruction of the SEC-GEN to move the debate towards making peace, the delegates were starting to close their arguments.This led to a peaceful discussion. The session was marked by a series of disputes, raised placards, impassioned arguments, and harmony.

The delegates were asked to make resolutions and resolutions were proposed, with one Resolution 4.1 ultimately passing. Amendments were accepted, and the committees were adjourned, marking the end of a highly dynamic and educational trial run.

All participants gained invaluable experience during the General Assembly's trial session, which deepened their awareness of international relations complexity, global diplomacy, and dispute resolution. With a feeling of accomplishment, the event came to an end.