M.U.N.
A wonderful journey, an amazing experience
Disclaimer: the following article is based on personal-experience, since I (the submitter) have participated in the MSKMUN, which was held on January 12-15, 2023.
MUN stands for “Model United Nations”. As you can already tell, it’s pretty much a simulation of the UN’s functional procedures, a program reaching out to aspiring students of all ages from around the globe. It is estimated that 400.000(!) students attend at least 1 MUN annually. Its main goal is to familiarize the youth with the way the UN organization works and hence trigger kids’, highschoolers’, teenagers’, or even college students’ interest, regarding actually seeking a solution to our world’s toughest problems.
The action consists of separate committees, which are actual sectors the UN members themselves have established. For example there is the NATO committee, the Security Council, the WHO committee, the Arab League or, if one wishes to escape reality for a bit the… Fictional committee. So, each participant is called upon to pick a country and represent it in the conference they have chosen to be a part of. Then they should study and find information accounting for their delegation’s mentality, their policy, their approach on pre-given topics, which are then discussed and debated upon.
The most interesting aspect of the MUN is the fact that, although it appears to be a formal political assembly, a literal… battlefield for “young politicians” to develop their countries’ thesis on serious global matters, it really is something deeper than that. First of all, when it comes to the participants’ benefits, the MUN raises awareness regarding serious international issues (war, health, hunger, economy, environment etc), allowing them to state their thesis with dignity, but also respect each other’s opinions, suggestions, solutions, whatever you call it, and that way promoting democracy. At the same time they’re exercising their mind, by constantly putting their English skills to use and developing subjective, critical thinking as well.
Despite all that, nothing’s more beautiful and meaningful when it comes to the MUN than the bonds that are created between the delegates. From my personal and my classmates’ experience (I don’t think we could ever disagree upon that) each committee, in a span of just 4 days, was transformed, from a cold bunch of strangers, awkwardly attempting to simply communicate, all the way to a true… family! It might sound somewhat excessive, but if I were to pinpoint a negative MUN’s aspect, it would most definitely be the…. post-MUN depression.
All in all, it’s an experience worth a shot (or more), a small journey, that drastically shifts your identity, for it to touch a world-wide scale, either temporarily or even permanently. It’s highly recommended for everyone willing to try something different, have themselves exposed right in the middle of the political field.
Hope you try it out!
(From a daily challenge, the delegates of the Security Council were assigned-write a poem for the MUN)
MUN
(Soneto, Italian Formula)
How could one live on top of a hollow world?
What happened to morality and justice?
Who’s the one deciding the perfect punish?
How can we fight such cold?
NATO is on fire, so is the S.C.
War, crisis, anger, disection’s out of order
UN’s councils are getting ever hotter…
Someone has to set us free!
Even if we try, reversing feels inevitable
Nonetheless we ought to shoot our shot
Even if the outcome’s not the most preferable
Politics’-scale fighting is most definitely hard
But a delegate can deliver much from their spot
And, somehow, the MUN makes it kindda fun!
