Rizal Faisal
The need for nations to support each other to create an enabling environment for individuals has become apparent.
This was a finding by International School Brunei (ISB) Borneo Global Issues Conference (BGIC) Secretary-General Alfiansyah Max Bannatyne Clark in Forum 2 from the General Assembly at the 19th ISB BGIC.
The ISB BGIC is an annual model United Nations style conference led by students for students. Participants represent countries to address various views on current, real world issues. The initiative is aimed at the development of students’ understanding of global citizenship and critical skills in research, public speaking and negotiation.
Many of the topics discussed during the Forum 2 General Assembly focussed on ensuring job security for all people in the world, albeit focussing on different aspects related to the theme of occupation.
The first resolution discussed was from the Economic-Social Committee aimed to promote economic growth for all.
As the secretary-general explained in an interview, “This topic was especially interesting as the resolution aimed to ensure that every individual whether they be refugees or locals living in rural or isolated areas also have the opportunity to be educated and are not constrained by geographical or financial factors. It was an incredibly intense debate with delegates thoroughly questioning every point being made, seeing how the proposed solutions can be applied to their own countries, and deducing whether it was a realistic and achievable goal.”
He shared that this resolution fell just short of passing by one vote.
“It was an incredibly discerning discussion, with all contributors showing profound knowledge and confidence in their work, something to be extremely proud of as it made for the most intense and thrilling debate of the day.
“After that, the forum moved onto debating the Human Rights resolution, tackling the need to protect labour rights for all workers.”
This resolution, according to the secretary-general, was well written, with each co-submitter showing a great depth of knowledge and understanding for each clause, sub-clause and sub-sub-clause.
He commented that “there is no such thing as the perfect resolution”.
“However this is the best resolution I have ever seen in my time, participating in ISB BGIC,” the secretary-general said.
“Every point was relevant to the topic and achievable to most of the nation’s debates. It was incredibly well constructed and, in the areas where they lacked explanation, they could confidently answer and provide examples of ways a specific idea has been implemented and new ways to achieve their proposed solutions. This debate was once again very enjoyable. However, from the get-go there was a sense that this resolution would pass.”
The penultimate resolution discussed was from the Environmental Committee and focussed on addressing and tackling the health issues caused by industrial pollution which prevent people from being productive within the economy.
“This resolution incorporated many geographical and biological concepts as it aimed to create not only a sustainable economy but also an environmentally sustainable community.
Due to a lot of the specialised language and concepts addressed in this resolution, it was a great challenge for delegates to expand their knowledge and utilise studies from school subjects, displaying how what we learn in school is applicable in real-world situations and decision-making processes.”
According to the secretary-general, the resolution demonstrated the importance of understanding complex systems and applying interdisciplinary knowledge to solve real-world problems.
“This resolution was also very well written and similarly well justified, hence it was no surprise to anyone that this resolution successfully passed.”
The final resolution of the day came from the Political Committee and aimed to promote political policies for economic growth through diversification, innovation, and access to financial services for all workers.
The secretary-general noted that, once again, like all the previous resolutions, the quality of the debate was “fantastic, being extremely well written, and it was evident that much thought was put into the creation of the solutions being proposed”.
“Whilst it was a beautifully written resolution, it came short of passing, mainly due to the slight lack of focus towards lower economically developed countries (LEDC), a trap which is often encountered by many resolutions. The delegates responsible for the resolution did a phenomenal job defending and justifying their points highlighting how much deep cognitive thought went into the resolution, however fell just short of passing.”
He noted that the creators showed great heart and determination and put up a very valiant fight, but added that it was unfortunately not enough to sway enough delegates to vote for the resolution.
Concluding, the secretary-general said, “Overall, the Forum 2 General Assembly was a fantastic experience from the point of view of a chairperson. Each main submitter was confident, respectful, and knowledgeable in their writing. The quality of all the resolutions was extremely impressive with there being a noticeable increase in quality from previous ISB BGICs.
“Additionally, every country got involved with the debates which is especially great as, in the General Assembly, many delegates may be intimidated by the sheer number of delegates – however every single country got involved in debating and the delegates’ willingness to reach out of their comfort zones greatly enhanced the debate experience as the atmosphere created truly felt as if delegate was fighting and deeply cared for the country which they represented.”
