Nadira Putri Wijaya (Mathematics 2021) won the Best Position Paper award at the 2023 President International Model United Nations (PresMUN), an international Model United Nations competition organized by the President University MUN Club. The competition’s theme was “Caught in the Gasp of Globalization: Overcoming Challenges and Maximizing Opportunities for Prosperity.”
In the 2023 PresMUN, Dira, as she is familiarly known, competed in one of the simulations of the UN council session, namely the ILO (International Labor Organization). There are approximately 30 participants in the ILO council, each acting as a delegate from ILO member countries, logistics companies, international labor unions, and labor-related nonprofit organizations. The ILO is one of five councils in the 2023 PresMUN competition, in addition to the WTO (World Trade Organization), HCC (Historical Crisis Committee), UNSC (United Nations Security Council), and Press (UN Press Corps Committee), where each council has a varying number of participants.
There are four award categories given to the best delegates at the 2023 PresMUN event. For each best delegate in the council other than Press, the awards given include Best Position Paper, Honorable Mention, Most Outstanding Delegate, and Best Delegate. Specifically for Press, there are two award categories given: Best Journalist and Best Editorial. In determining the award recipients, each judge in a council, known as chair, can have different criteria so that there is a possibility that not all awards will be given to delegates for certain reasons, for example no delegates meet the assessment criteria. chair in a council.
In terms of the competition flow, all delegates receive a council allocation or council along with important documents related to the competition from the committee on June 24, which also coincided with the end of the registration period for PresMUN 2023 delegates. Based on the results of the board allocation by the committee, Dira was placed on the ILO board which raised the discussion topic “Ensuring the Protection for Migrant Ship Crews of Southeast Asian Origin in Foreign Ships.” In the board, Dira was required to act as a representative of a multinational logistics company called the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
Like the other delegates, Dira was required to make position paper a maximum of two pages with a deadline for submission on July 3, 2023. Based on Dira’s statement, in compiling position paper During this time, he conducted extensive in-depth research on the ILO, the discussion topics, and the background of MSC as a company. Dira himself also stated that position paper The written statement contains his understanding of the topic and the problem, the company’s views so far regarding the problem, and the solutions offered to each representative of ILO member countries without including his personal opinions that could interfere with the position of the MSC.
Furthermore, during the three-day discussion session, which took place from July 7-9, 2023, Dira attempted to propose topics while delivering speeches on each one. In fact, over the course of those three days, she compiled dozens of alternative discussion topics for approval by all delegates on the ILO council and continued to deliver speeches on each topic proposed by other delegates. During the discussions, Dira also took the time to compile working paper which contains the essence of the discussion and all the solutions that were proposed during the discussion.
According to Dira, her role as the MSC representative on the ILO council was the biggest challenge she faced during the discussion. She considered the role less than ideal, as company representatives cannot sponsor the draft resolution, making it more difficult to take credit for the solutions they proposed. Nevertheless, she continued to contribute to the draft resolution within the ILO council. In formulating solutions during the discussion, Dira also considered MSC’s reputation as a recipient of the Forbes World’s Best Employers award for two consecutive years and a pioneer of best practices for logistics and shipping companies.
During a discussion session at the ILO council, Dira presented three solutions that generally focus on human resource development and empowerment in the context of migrant workers in the shipping industry. These three solutions include MARITIME (Maximizing Awareness, Respect, and Inclusion Through Employee Engagement), the SAIL (Safe and Healthy Employment) Protocol, and SEA-STAR (Seafaring Employment Advancement – Screening, Training, and Assessment Resources).
“What makes my solution unique compared to others is that most participants focused more on how to protect crew members’ rights without violating each country’s sovereignty. However, I offer an approach that focuses on how to directly improve human resource practices in the shipping industry. This includes the worker recruitment process, providing workers with adequate training and information, and other facilities, such as hotline complaints of discrimination and complaints of emergency conditions while sailing,” said Dira.
In detail, MARITIME focuses on employee engagement mechanisms to create a work environment that promotes diversity, equality, and inclusion as well as employee feedback and grievance mechanisms to ensure that deficiencies in employment practices can be addressed and cases of discrimination in the workplace can be prevented. Furthermore, the SAIL Protocol focuses on efforts to create a safe and healthy work environment by mitigating risks to mental health, physical well-being, and worker security. Finally, SEA-STAR focuses on a comprehensive recruitment process to ensure the suitability of candidate skills and needs for available roles on board and the provision of training and certification required by crew members to improve their competence and understanding of applicable safety standards.
Interest in international issues and a desire to practice skills public speaking was the main reason for Dira’s participation in the 2023 PresMUN. During the event, Dira admitted that she often faced various challenges, both in managing her time for research and drafting amidst other academic and non-academic activities, as well as other challenges related to the competition itself, which she found quite draining. Despite this, Dira always managed to overcome these challenges by working effectively and making the most of her time.
According to Dira, her participation in PresMUN 2023 has provided many benefits, such as improving basic skills that include research, negotiation, drafting, and also speaking skills. In addition, another thing that is no less crucial for Dira in achieving success in the competition is instilling growth mindset, namely the desire to continue to develop and learn new things at every opportunity.
“From the beginning, I never expected to receive an award for my writing, like the one I’ve received this time, considering that I’ve always felt that my writing was a weakness. However, it turns out that success isn’t always linear, and there are times when I need to step out of my comfort zone and push myself to learn new things. Of course, there’s always room for me to develop and grow,” Dira said at the end of the interview.
PresidentMUN is an international Model United Nations competition organized by President University. MUN itself is essentially a simulation competition for the United Nations (UN) session, where each delegate can act as a representative of a country, agency, government institution, nonprofit organization, or relevant private company. The theme of this year’s PresMUN is “Caught in the Gasp of Globalization: Overcoming Challenges and Maximizing Opportunities for Prosperity.” The competition is held online, with registration timeline from May 5 to June 24, 2023, paper submission until July 3, 2023, the simulation procession will take place from July 7 to 9, 2023, and the awarding night will take place on July 9, 2023.
