Students from around the world join forces to solve our problems
Thousands of students from across the world met in London last month to tackle the many serious problems that challenge us in the new millennium.
London Model United Nations 2014, held from February 21 to 23, was the largest and most international conference in Europe with 1600 attendees from 53 countries and 200 universities.
This was the 15th Model United Nations (MUN) conference, which each year has grown bigger and bigger and now attracts thousands of high school, undergraduate and postgraduate students from all over the world. These conferences aim to extend understanding of international affairs and international culture but also knowledge of the United Nations organisation.
Over three days, students were involved in 21 different UN committees among them Unicef, Unesco, Ecosoc, and UN Women. The delegates presented their country’s view before other members and discussed specific topics related to their committee with passionate debates and presentations of research to reach resolutions on global problems.
The Secretary General of LiMun, Kacper Pancewizc, declared: “The world deserves the best answers, and these can only be obtained through collaboration and consideration of all issues and perspectives.”
Each committee consisted of between 30 to 100 representatives ranging from beginners to experts with chairs present to set the debate. For some delegates it was the first time; others were veterans of many of these conferences.
Stefano Obata, 19, a first year student in international relations at the University of Nottingham, was happy to enjoy his 10th MUN experience with the World Food Program committee.
“I feel like it was one of the best conferences I’ve been to, in terms of organisation, locations, and people. I think the best part was the fact that we managed to pass three resolutions, something I’ve never seen before,” he said.
During debates, delegates had the opportunity to speak for a minute on their country’s position while strictly following rules of procedure. Most welcomed the challenge to speak in public on a very serious topic.
“My first MUN was a high school conference but it had over 10 committees and 100 delegates in each; it was very scary. Since then I feel I’ve greatly improved and my fear of public speaking has greatly reduced. MUNs have been really pivotal in this,” said Obata.
For Eva Ullman, a 19-year-old German student at Zeppelin University, it took a lot of courage to stand up and give her speech. “It is totally worth it. I’ll definitely do another MUN; the next one will be the World MUN in Brussels in March.”
In addition to giving a speech, passing resolutions for each committee after long debates was regarded as a real achievement and satisfaction. Finding future solutions to global problems and acting like future world leaders and thinkers constituted the best part of the process for many of the participants.
Speaking from the New York headquarters, Secretary General of the United Nations, Bank Ki Moon, expressed his delight at the great involvement of students. “We must unite to overcome climate change, […] we must work in unison to defeat extreme poverty […] and we must stand up for human beings in crisis. You are an important part of the solution. The world needs your active engagement.”
LiMun also provided a rare opportunity to meet different people from 53 different nations across the world in a multicultural city like London where more than 300 languages are spoken.
Muhammad Baryar, a 20-year-old student in International Political Economy at King’s College of London, chaired the World Food Program committee for the first time at LiMun but he has experienced MUNs since high school.
“The best thing is not the debate, not the committee, not the directors or the socials. In fact the best thing about MUNs are the friends you cultivate and relations you build with other people. This networking not only helps you to develop personally but also builds a network of friends all over the world. I am proud to say that I have friends in more than 60 countries around the world,” said Baryar.
Many universities create their own MUN organisations, recruiting students and holding training sessions to then participate in different conferences. Miléna Mahé, a 21-year-old French undergraduate in social sciences and economy, experienced the challenge as a president of MUN ICP, from the Catholic University of Paris.
“We were a large heterogeneous group of students, from first years to Masters students, yet that didn’t stop everyone from getting along brilliantly. You have to be sociable and easy going to be part of MUN and that is the kind of thing we look out for when we receive people’s CVs,” she said.
MUN conferences also grow skills that are essential in many fields of study and for future employment: expertise in speaking, negotiation, mediation, consensus building and forming relationships enrich every student.
“This exercise will give you a full taste of the complexity of international relations – the intricacies of negotiating among diverse peoples and perspectives, the challenges of achieving consensus, the patience required to win progress,” wrote Ban-Ki Moon.
Overall, many students said MUN could be a very addictive conference. Meeting new people, debating various issues and representing a country makes it unique. But what matters in the end, is the solidarity of the international community: “United we stand, divided we fall.”
* All images courtesy LiMun
