KARACHI: Some eight students of the 17 of CAS School, who along with their trainer were sent to the Netherlands to compete at the United World College (UWC) Maastricht’s MaasMUN 2023 recently, have done their school and country proud by winning honours.

The students, namely, Aly Muhammad Dadwani, Amaan Danish Bawla, Eshaal Hamayun Sajjad, Ezzah Zulfikar, Mahnoor Zaidi, Mekail Ahsan, Mikael Khalid Mehmood, Nael Atif Jan, Nael Manghi, Omar Siddiqui, Osman Jalal Khan, Raahim Aziz, Salina Ovais Allawala, Shaan Ali, Shafaay Kashan, Shahzayn Khan and M. Sufyan Siddiqui, were led by their trainer Umer Irfan Sharfuddin at the UWC Maastricht’s MaasMUN 2023.

UWC Maastricht is one of 18 schools and colleges on four continents, with UWC national committees in over 150 countries reaching and selecting students from diverse backgrounds and selecting only the best students for their programmes.

Their 60,000 strong alumni network consists of some of the most renowned names in industry, policy, and statecraft, with the King of the Netherlands also among them.

MaasMUN is UWC’s signature public speaking competition based on the Model United Nations (MUN) format of debate. This year it took place from June 23 to June 25.

This was the first team from the CAS School to travel to the Netherlands as well as the first and only team from Pakistan to participate in the event. The event was attended by teams from Brazil, England, Georgia, Germany, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Pakistan among others.

After months of training and three days of vigorous debate, eight members from the 17-member team emerged victorious in their respective debate committees. Mekail Ahsan of the Disarmament and International Committee received the Best Delegate Award while Aly Muhammad Dadwani of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Eshaal Hamayun Sajjad of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (EFAC), Nael Atif Jan of the Economic and Social Council, Osman Jalal Khan of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Salina Ovais Allawala of EFAC, Shahzayn Khan of UNSC and M. Sufyan Siddiqui of the Special, Political and De-Colonisation Committee got Honourable Mentions.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2023