It has been half a year since the coronavirus (COVID-19) affected a lot of lives all over the world and to stay true to their advocacies, the Asia Pacific International Model United Nations (APIMUN) announced their partnership with the Philippines’ youth-led non-profit organization, Barya Di Lamang Sa Umaga (BDLSU). Due to the sudden spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, youths from Metro Manila established an initiative that aims to provide support for the jeepney drivers affected by the disruption of public transportation. APIMUN and BDLSU join forces this September by helping them raise funds through launching a donation drive solely for this cause and giving fifty percent of the proceeds from their incoming APIMUN Online Conference V.4 with the theme “Global Transparency and Justice for the World’s Innovation in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic” to their beloved jeepney drivers.
Our current situation has shown the importance of global transparency in having a competent government that will meet the needs of the country especially in a crisis like this without compromising the basic rights of its people. Thus, in having the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the three councils available for participants in this version’s conference, APIMUN envisions an educational platform wherein participants can further hone their skills and gain greater knowledge in global affairs along with its repercussions while being safe within the comfort of their homes.
“It is important to help open the eyes of our countrymen, especially the youth, with all the injustices that we are experiencing right now.” Said Sydney Rovin Macahiya, APIMUN’s External Relations Director. “We may not feel it that much, but all these are hardly being experienced by the marginalized, those who lost their jobs, and we have to think about them even at the comfort of our homes — especially in the comfort of our homes.”
A registration fee of 400 pesos will be accepted until the 16th of September. However, the organizing committee is accepting donations from non-participants as well until further notice. The conference proper will take place on September 19 & 20, 2020. Likewise, APIMUN has opened the registration for a Model United Nations (MUN) training on September 12 & 13, and a Game Night on September 18, to help participants prepare better for the incoming conference. Learn more about the initiative and APIMUN at https://www.apimunofficial.org/online-mun-conference.
About Barya Di Lamang Sa Umaga
Started in 2020, Barya Di Lamang Sa Umaga is a youth-led non-profit organization that initiates fundraising and donation drives for displaced Filipino jeepney drivers. The organization was established to provide support for the jeepney drivers affected by the disruption of public transportation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more and support the initiative, visit https://www.facebook.com/bentephl.
About Asia Pacific International Model United Nations
APIMUN is an online academic simulation in the likeness of organizations and bodies within the United Nations and was founded by students from different colleges and universities in the Philippines to celebrate the beauty of diplomacy, culture, and diversity. It operates under the objective of continuously building alliances with other delegates across the world to create social projects that impact concrete and genuine progress in their respective communities.
