In February 2015, five delegates from Kabul attended the THIMUN Qatar Model United Nations conference in Doha, Qatar-the first time a delegation from Afghanistan had attended this prestigious event. The five students were mentored by international students from around the world and took the conference by storm.
These five individuals, led by Rahmatullah Hamdard, decided to bring Model United Nations (MUN) for the first time to Afghanistan with Afghan youth society because they believed that this project can bring leadership changes in the life of Afghan youth. So, Rahmatullah and his team submitted a proposal for support to THIMUN Qatar international organization, TASMUN of Taipei American school of Taiwan and the John Burroughs’s School in the United States. Fortunately, they got a strong welcoming hand of support from all of them. They started the first ever AFMUN (Afghanistan Model United Nations) class in the Skateistan organization (Afghan Skate School) with 22 students, with 50% of the students being female.
As these leaders wanted to improve this MUN project, they decided to register as an Afghan NGO. Fortunately and finally, they registered the first ever MUN organization in Afghanistan under the name of Hope for Education and Leadership in Afghanistan (HELA).