#DEBAT
Introduction to SkyMUN
Have you ever heard of the term MUN before? MUN stands for Model United Nations. It is a conference that lasts for three days in which high school students get the change to recreate the United Nations; the biggest intergovernmental organization worldwide. Our school has already participated in loads of these conferences all over the world and enjoyed every single one of them. (For example in Cambridge, Haarlem, Arnhem and at the Radboud University.) After all these good experiences at other schools, it was only a matter of time before the first MUN at our school would take place. This waiting time is over now. Namely, on the 9th, 10th and 11th of December 2022, the first MUN ever will take place at Kandinsky College Nijmegen.
door Marieke van den Berg
MUN?
To become as enthusiastic about this event as we are ourselves, it might be good to explain the purpose of the Model United Nations a bit more. The original United Nations is an organization where almost all countries are a member of. It was founded right after the second world war and its main purpose is to maintain international peace and security, and to promote human rights. You might know the UN from the subdepartments they created like UNICEF, UNESCO, or the Security Council. During an MUN, all participants get a random country assigned to represent. You might for example represent France. You also get assigned a topic to debate about. (A few examples are: nuclear weapons, child labour, rising sea levels et cetera. The options are endless, as long as the topics are also discussed in the real United Nations.) During the MUN, you will debate about this topic from the perspective of your assigned country.
And then?
An MUN takes up three days. However, it is absolutely not the case that you are debating three days straight. Of course, the debates are the essential part, but there is so much more. During an MUN you also meet loads of new people from all over the world who have come to the conference as well. On the second day, there always is a party where you can get to know everyone on a more casual level. Another extra aspect that makes an MUN so much fun is the Gossip Box. This is a box in which everyone can put notes during the debate. The leaders of the debate (chairs) will at the end of each day read out the best and most fun notes that are put in the box. Actually, even the punishments at an MUN are nice. These involve most of the times doing just dance, singing a karaoke song, or writing a short love poem.
SkyMUN
Now, for the first time ever our school is going to organize an MUN named SkyMUN and ready to experience every single aspect of it. For three days, people from all over our country will visit our school. For three days, guest speakers from all over the world will come and inform and inspire all participants with their speeches. For three days, our school will be transformed into the United Nations. Including the famous flag placards (present in the picture below), speech tables, the formal clothing (because just like in the real United Nations, formal clothing is worn during the conference), and so much more.
Organising & participating
Another unique aspect of a Model United Nations is the fact that it is fully organised by students. From the food served at the conference to the party, everything is arranged by the Organizing Committee; a group of students who will ensure the MUN will run smoothly. This entails searching for sponsors, mailing to other schools, creating merch and so on. The wonderful feature of being in the Organizing Committee is the experience during the real conference. Where all you worked for becomes reality.
Furthermore is there for all students from third year onward the possibility to participate in SkyMUN. Although we just tried our very best to explain the main principles of an MUN, it stays hard to cover everything and the best way to find out what it truly embodies is to experience it. One thing about participating in an MUN is however true for sure. Namely that it opens certain doors you never knew existed.
We are looking very much forward to this event and hoping for a weekend full of new experiences, eye-openers, debates, and most importantly fun.
Yours sincerely,
Lisa Wise, Marieke van den Berg and Fenna Coumans
The Secretariat of SkyMUN 2022
At the 20th of May our school was present at the MUN from the Radboud University. Before this event, every participant had had multiple trainings from experienced tutors. They taught everyone the most important principles of the debating, so that everyone was well prepared on the conference itself. It seemed like the teaching had helped, because our school won multiple prizes at the end of the day. Congratulations to everyone!