Principal's Message
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our fourth Model United Nations Conference. From a tentative beginning in 2012, the MUN movement in our school has grown tremendously thanks to the initiative taken by our students whose efforts were encouraged, blessed and given a concrete shape by our founder-Principal Mrs. Jamila Singh, our MUN Coordinator, Mrs. Anita John, and a number of visionary teachers.
The high quality of debate and the incisive arguments put forward by the various delegates from the different schools added lustre to the intellectual discussions in these Conferences, and it is in these delegates that we repose great hope for a better tomorrow.
The clarion call of this Conference is 'Uniting for Peace'. As Eleanor Roosevelt so rightly said, "It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it."
How do we define 'peace'? Not just the absence of war or conflict, surely? To me, peace is a state when there is deep respect accorded to every individual for being a member of humanity. It is that spirit which transcends man-made barriers of race, caste, religion and country, and welds the world into one.
Peace leads to progress, and a lack of it results in stagnation. To fall into the trap of petty issues and to place them above humanity is to have a myopic vision for the world. To come together for peace requires courage – the courage to look at solutions to problems rather than to indulge in a blame-game; the courage to let go of some of history's baggage so that one can start afresh; the courage to arrive at a mutually acceptable compromise rather than be dangerously obdurate and stubborn; and the courage to take the road less travelled.
My best wishes go out to each delegate. From the discussions in your Committees may something truly concrete emerge which makes the world leaders sit up and take notice!!
My best wishes go out to the MCGS MUN Secretariat and the Organising Committee. May the hard work you have put in pay rich dividends and may you scale new heights of excellence in this endeavour.
Kanchan KhandkePrincipal, Mayo College Girls' School