400 attend leadership conference for students

The first annual Qatar Leadership Conference for students, put together by Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar and The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) Qatar, concluded on Sunday in Education City. The event brought together 400 attendees, including students, teachers, advisers and other members of academia. The event was designed to facilitate collaboration between Model United Nations members from around the world and also to educate students about different aspects of filmmaking. Brendan Hill, associate dean for students at Georgetown University SFS-Q, in his address at the closing ceremony stated that the Qatar Leadership Conference will provide the future leaders the tools they need to realise their full potential. The conference was developed keeping in mind the needs of the current students and to prepare them for the time ahead. The three-day conference featured a number of speakers who discussed an array of topics such as “organising events”, “community service”, “working with press teams”, “starting a debating club” and “social media”. Throughout the three days, students were given a chance to select different sessions and engage in dialogue. Cameron Janzen, one of the organisers from THIMUN Qatar said it was exciting to see students and teachers working together to develop their skills and share ideas. “It was for these very reasons that the THIMUN Foundation and Qatar Academy partnership was formed,” the official said. Delivering the keynote address, Dr Sandra Richards, director of the Liberal Arts Programme at Northwestern University, emphasised the need for leaders to practice empathy and mutual respect, especially in turbulent times. “It is more important than ever that we all try to find ways to state our opinions carefully, listen with sincere respect to others, imagine ourselves momentarily in someone else’s shoes, so to speak, standing in the vantage point of their histories, their present experiences, their hopes for the future,” she said. One of the aims of the conference was to allow high school students to participate and learn from an advanced level of discussion on MUN. The sessions were facilitated and guided by experienced members of the MUN and academic communities from Qatar and around the world. The student conference will be held annually in Qatar, making this an essential part of the global MUN calendar. From GT