1. Overview of the point discussion
The panel discussion for our group was held on 24th June 2013, Wednesday. All five members of our panel group were from Maldives and apart from me, the other four members in our group were Saruwaan Mohamed, Samaha Hussain, Aminath Afra and Irufa Ahmed Ibrahim. The topic for our panel was “No human trafficking; a world free of slavery”. Human trafficking has enslaved millions of people around the world and we believe that the authorities are not effective in reducing this horrendous crime effecting so many innocent lives. In a time where democracy is promoted throughout the world, it is tragic that there are so many people who have been swindled out of their human rights.
2. The process
When the panel discussion was given, all the members of our group got together and started brain storming for ideas for a topic for the panel discussion. We all wanted to do the panel discussion on an immense global problem violating the human rights. During the excogitation session, topics proposed include women rights, child abuse and human trafficking. After evaluating all of these topics it was decided that human trafficking should be chose. The decision was mutual and all of the members in the group’s first preference was human trafficking. The reason why we chose this as our panel discussion topic was that human trafficking is a crime which affects the lives of millions of people around the world and involves extreme violation of human rights of the victims. We believe that the reason for the increment of this crimes is lack of appropriate measures in curbing human trafficking.
After choosing the topic we decided to talk about the topic in different angles. However, we did not want to practice role play because we believed that we would learn more if we talked about the issue from our own perspective and opinions. Thus, every member of the group chose the area he/she wants to talk about. Samaha was the moderator of the panel discussion, followed by Afra who discussed about the vastness of human trafficking by presenting the statistics. Afra was followed by Saruwaan who talked about the causes and methods of human trafficking. Irufa continued the presentation from here and talked about the role and effectiveness of the government in curbing human trafficking. I was the last speaker and I talked about the role of NGO’s in eradicating human trafficking and the challenges they face in achieving their missions.
Next, we decided on a date that we would meet for our next discussion and requested all the members of the group to try and research and get ready for their part in the panel discussion. During that meeting each of the members presented within our group and all the members gave feedback and ideas on how to improve the presentation.
We had our final rehearsal on the day of presentation and even though some panellists were nervous regarding the panel discussion, all of the members were ready to do their best.
I found working with the group very easy and efficient. I believe that while working in a group it is very vital for all of the members to understand each other in order to come up with good results. Our group had that advantage as our lecture did not put any restriction on the formation of the group. The process and preparation for the panel was smooth and effective as there was no tension and conflicts among the members.
3. The Implementation
I believed that our panel discussion went as we planned apart from the technical difficulty we faced. The advantages we had was the thorough preparation and practice we had had for our discussion which helped the panel discussion to run smoothly.
The only problem we faced during the presentation was lack of time. Because we were the last panel to have the discussions there were time restraints. We did not get the chance for question and answer sessions which could have made our panel discussion more interesting.
4. Learning/Reflection of the Panel Discussion
We faced two problems during our panel discussion; technical difficulty and time restraints. So I believe that it is also important to have a backup plan in case of unexpected problems.
Apart from these problems the panel discussion was very intriguing and I learnt many things throughout the process. A very important thing was the knowledge I gained regarding the immenseness of human trafficking. It had helped me understand signs of traffickers and identify the victims of this crime.
5. Conclusion
Over all, the panel discussion was extremely helpful for me in many ways. It helped be become more knowledgeable towards human trafficking and built an urge inside me to try and help in reducing human trafficking. I believe that no one should deserve to be treated so inhumanely and the authorities should work much harder than now to reduce this modern day slavery.
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