Model UN Club at the NAIMUN Conference

In February the Stanford OHS Model UN club participated in the NAIMUN Model UN Conference in Washington DC. Model UN conferences are simulations of real life committees within the UN such as the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) and the Social, Cultural, & Humanitarian Committee(SOCHUM). During these simulations, students represent delegates of countries and are tasked with creating a resolution addressing real-world problems. Before every conference, each delegate must research their assigned topic and country in order to write a position paper. Once in the committee delegates work with others in their “block” which is made up of delegates within the committee with similar ideas and proposals to create a joint resolution and policy proposal. These resolutions are then debated, and refined and on the final day, every resolution has a Q&A and presentation session. 

The NAIMUN conference in Washington DC is the largest student-run MUN conference in the world and is attended by over 3,500 students every year from nearly 100 countries and has 41 different committees ranging in size from 20 to 300 delegates. The Conference which takes place at the Washington Hilton and is staffed by Georgetown students took place over the course of 4 days between February the 16th and February the 19th. The first day of the conference was Thursday during which delegates started off with the opening ceremony and the keynote address by Assistant Secretary of State Michele J. Sison and various Parliamentary procedure training meetings and then transitioned into their first committee meetings. On Friday delegates had a few hours of programming in the morning where they were free to explore DC with various trips being organized by NAIMUN such as embassy visits, White House tours, and US Capitol tours. OHSers were able to take a tour of the Washington Monument and also posed in front of the White House. Delegates also had 2 committee sessions after the programming on Friday during which they began to form blocks and write their resolutions. Finally, on Saturday, delegates had 2 more committee sessions during which they presented and debated the resolutions that had been proposed and then voted on the resolutions.

Jordan Bryant (‘26), one of the VPs of the Model UN Club and an OHS delegate at NAIMUN described the enriching experience of NAIMUN commenting “It was not only a platform for engaging in meaningful debates and diplomacy but also an opportunity to expand my understanding of global issues and cultivate valuable leadership skills, collaboration skills and friendships.” She also thanked the club sponsors Ms. Revathi and Dr. Steele for all the work they put in to make the conference possible both logistically and funding-wise and Ms. Mustafa who served as an advisor during the conference. The competition was overall a success with OHSers winning a total of 3 awards including the Book Award and a verbal commendation. Moreover, the conference had a record turnout of 15 OHS delegates, many of which were attending a Model UN conference for the first time. Jordan expressed her admiration for the OHSers who participated noting that “It was truly inspiring to see their dedication throughout the event” as they navigated the complex world of MUN, debate, and diplomacy.