It is noteworthy that these students were in competition against some of the world's best universities including Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, MIT, London School of Economics, Mc Gill, Princeton, University of California (Berkley) etc. This is the first time ever in the history of World MUN that any Asian University has managed to win the top accolades at this prestigious conference. The method applied to determine the ranking of teams is on the basis of winning ratios, i.e. the number of delegates winning diplomacy awards divided by the total number of delegates in the delegation. Therefore, teams like those from Venezuela won more awards than LUMS but since their delegation size was close to 40, their winning ratio suffered and they did not win.

The delegation at the Forbidden City

From left to Right: Hassan, Sarosh, Hassaan, Rabea, Hashim, Ahmad, Ammar, Kazi

The Pakistani students mocked 8 different committees of the United Nations, namely the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee (SOCHUM), United Nations Commission for Refugees (UNCHR), the Special, Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Historical General Assembly (HGA) and the Disarmament and International Security (DISEC). Each committee was assigned two topics of global concern and came up with resolutions that were written on real UN format. Another interesting fact is that this team was assigned India as the country that they had to represent at the conference which generated immense interest amongst all delegates and directors.

The delegation at a dinner reception
hosted by Syed & Mrs. Babar Ali in Lahore

In UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's written message to the World MUN delegates he said, "This gathering of young people in support of our Organization is truly heartening. First, because the United Nations is your United Nations. It was created more than 50 years ago to serve the peoples of the world, whose future you represent. Second, because by coming together and assuming the positions of different Member States, by walking in their shoes, you will gain new insights and come to understand a diversity of points of view." He added "You are meeting at a crucial time in the life of our United Nations. As we seek to rebuild and recover from the events of 11 September and their aftermath, we must pursue with renewed vigour our overriding mission to work for freedom from fear, freedom from want, and protection of the resources of this planet. In pursuing these goals, our guiding motto must be to put people at the center of everything we do."

Next week, The Saturday Post will bring you up close and personal with the winning delegates from LUMS in a special Rendezvous feature.

Until then, our heartiest congratulations to the winning team, their advisor Dr. Jafri, and the entire LUMS community for such a remarkable achievement.