It’s a warm Friday morning, the sun beaming into the common room’s windows, shining into the aspiring delegates’ eyes as they await to start a debate-filled day. It’s a common misconception that MUN is hours worth of tiring research and tedious speeches laden with jargon that everyone pretends to understand, but through my observations of NESMUN, I found that these events
are more than just surface-level debates, but affairs of self-exploration and widening horizons.
The Tip of the Iceberg:
Upon my initial arrival, I spoke with Joud Abdullah, an executive of NESMUN and was briefed on the day’s curriculum – from position papers outlining debate topics to tabling a resolution paper and causing a country’s downfall. It seemed like a maze of key words that I could barely fathom, but even the hardest words were infact simple ideas that anyone could participate in. Who knew moderated caucuses are just fancy words for a timed supervised debate? After a long, detailed meeting, I managed to gather a basic itinerary of the day:
Position papers (opening speeches) that can be conversed and argued on, followed by a resolution paper (how to approach and resolve the issues), and ending off with voting on which resolutions to keep and which to expel.
Chaos unfolds:
I entered the Human Rights council expecting calm, collected discussions – this was not quite the case. El Salvador was asserting the strength of their imprisonment system when Uruguay bursts out with a point of information, highlighting El Salvador’s poverty rates leading to an inability to properly incriminate people. El Salvador acknowledges this, saying “We do have high vulnerability rates, yes.” China chimes in not long after, saying police corruption rates can cause the arrest of innocent civilians. El Salvador rebuttals this by
saying corruption rates are low, directly juxtaposing earlier statements, leaving China with an accomplished smirk and El Salvador in full concentration calculating how to fix their mess. Ruthless accusations were thrown one after another, gradually pulling El Salvador down until… delegates were called out for their lunch break.
The Diamonds in the Rough:
While the day was high
ly formal, consisting of articulate and moving speeches that urged everyone listening to think about the positive outcomes we can achieve through unity, I noticed the perks that slip through the cracks: All parties involved (yes, even teachers!) learn something new about the world we live in, the laws and regulations in place that we dismiss everyday are more crucial than we think. Having the privilege to give rise to new innovative ideas can foster a love for debate, producing an abundance of future lawyers and
judges that can provide us with the rights we deserve. Additionally, being placed in foreign and diverse groups tur
ns an unfamiliar face that you pass by every Tuesday after break into Yemen, the delegate that persisted on legalizing nuclear proliferation. Delegates bonded over their countries’ shared views, building friendships that are bound to last forever. Overall, NESMUN proved to be an opportunity full of education, friendships, and fun that many fail to seize.
With that being said, the delegation of Tamara has a point of information: Get out of your comfort zone and join an MUN debate, you never know what good it will bring.
