MUNITY East 2019 Pre-Conference Issue: Two Sides of The Same Coin

A Brighter Future:
The Battles We Have Won So Far
Written by: Aastha Gokani
Edited by: Hyoree Kim
Layout & Artwork by: Ishwarya Krishna
At MUN conferences, delegates
generally discuss distressing
events about which humanity
should take action. Hence, it
is easy to dive into negativity
and fail to remember the little
victories. This article looks to
draw the delegates’ attention to
the little victories that should
be celebrated and to
remind delegates about
the good in the world.
Regarding sustainable
development, there are
two notable events that
occurred this year. One of
them concerns Veganuary, an
association that encourages
people to try veganism in
January. A record-breaking
250,000 people tried Veganuary
this year for environmental,
ethical, or health reasons. This
record-breaking number has
increased the variety of vegan
options offered in restaurants
and food shops. This could
lead to a decrease in meat
production, which would limit
greenhouse gas emissions and
reduce excessive use of water
for this production. Furthermore,
according to NASA, the earth is
getting greener. Over the last
two decades, the earth has
become 5% greener, which is
the equivalent of the Amazon
rainforest. The impressive figure
goes to show that reforestation
is possible. In particular,
following the loss of vegetation
in tropical countries such as
Brazil or Indonesia, NASA aims
to encourage such actions.
While the environment has
been a big concern in recent
years, so have chronic illnesses.
Fortunately, medical research
has found treatments to tackle the
symptoms of a myriad of illnesses.
Recently, US scientists made a
major breakthrough in treating
type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune
disease. Patients who suffer from
this disease have pancreases
that are unable to produce
insulin to control sugar levels,
which causes complications
such as heart disease, blindness,
and more. Fortunately, scientists
have been able to turn human
stem cells into beta-cells
(insulin-producing cells), which
could then be used for patients.
“This is a critical step towards
our goal of creating cells that
could be transplanted into
patients with diabetes,” said
Matthias Hebrok, director of
the UCSF Diabetes Center.
Although it is easy to get lost in
all of the battles the world has
to conquer environmentally,
socially, and economically,
those battles shouldn’t take
over our hope for a better future.
Affirming that the world is a
dark place and we can’t fix it will
make it more true. A positive
mindset, which this article
attempts to help delegates
adopt, can bring us hope and
determination to make changes
that help make a better world.
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