What does it take to become a change maker? Well, the answer is pretty simple, speak up your mind for the issues you care. BRAC University Global Model United Nations (BUGMUN), one of the biggest Model United Nations in Bangladesh hosted in Savar Campus of BRAC University, brought delegates from different parts of Bangladesh and from international locations to give the enthusiastic change makers a platform to speak.

On 15th December 2016, the event started off its opening ceremony in the Golf Garden, Army Golf Club Road.  The event theme for the year 2016 was "Protocols for Tomorrow: A sanctuary for visionaries." The plenary session was honoured by the presence of special guests such as Cultural Affairs Officer US Embassy Dhaka Kelly Ryan, Additional Managing Director  of BRAC Bank Limited Mohammad Mamdudur Rashid, Adviser of BRAC Business School Professor Dr. Rahim B. Talukdar and President of Build Bangladesh architect Farhad Reza.

Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, member of Board of Trustees of BRAC University, was another special guest who spoke in the plenary session. He encouraged the delegates to focus on the friendship they had around them, dream wide and take our nation forward with highly sustainable goals. The chief guest of the event was BRAC University Vice Chancellor Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb. He spoke about how the country needed a lot of smart visionaries and each delegates could be one by having harmony and compassion among the youths.

BUGMUN 2016 was unique since it was the only residential MUN and  it had the highest number of committees focusing on 14 different issues around the world. Around 400 national and international delegates came together to discuss about different agendas of their committees and exercise the art of diplomacy.

All the different committees of BUGMUN' 16 had different agendas for the respective delegates to debate on.  The delegates of committees such as DISEC participated in the press conferences and engaged on the issues of establishment and maintenance of Global Peace. At the end of the five-day sessions, the delegates came up with efficient solutions to deal with the weapon proliferation and solution of international crisis.

 On the other hand, the event also had committees including one   focusing on very recent affairs such as the Post Brexit impact. The delegates of this committee debated and attempted to figure out what the proper impacts of Brexit would be by talking about the educational and economic changes that will take place.

Simultaneously the delegates of UNSC tried to find the solution to radicalisation of religion and losing the youths to organisations such as ISIS. During the press conference, the IP reporter directly asked the delegate of Malaysia about the solution he has in mind to prevent radicalisation as much as possible and in defense the delegate responded by saying that 80% of the recruitment of youths take place through social media, thus to prevent it they suggested identifying the websites or plausible pages that contribute to ISIS recruitments.

On the contrary, delegates of DISEC had been a little aggressive. During the debate, the delegate of Germany directly quoted saying "Solutions will not fall from the sky but bombs will!", thus they needed better solutions. Accusations were also part of the committee sessions. The delegate of Japan from UNEP blatantly said "Pakistan keeps asking other countries to stop using nuclear weapon but secretly they keep producing it themselves." And once again, even if things got a little heated up, the chairs managed to ensure diplomatic conversations again.

The committee session took place during the day where the delegates worked towards showcasing and developing their intellectual abilities. However, the nights and evening of BUGMUN 2016 were completely dedicated to give the delegates a refreshing feeling. The organisers hosted social nights during the evening by holding different concerts and performances from bands like Minerva.

BUGMUN, hosted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) of  BRAC University, aimed to nurture diplomats and young change makers through the annual event of six days. The organisers and senior members of the team believe that BUGMUN is one of the best means to nurture these diplomats. They firmly believe that a residential MUN gives the delegates an opportunity to make friends for life alongside discussing the worldly affairs that require attention from the youth.

The writer is currently studying Economics in BRAC University, [email protected]