The annual Model United Nations at RCN is a moment for the 1st year class to bond in something intellectually challenging, emotionally engaging, and also a little physically demanding. All of those things game together, more of one, depending on who you were and what each student needed from the week.
The conference was facilitated by a dedicated team of 2nd years who poured their hearts and souls into making the experience exciting and fun. This year we had even more topics with the addition of more committees spread across the Security Council, as well as a Historical Security that went back in time to solve some issues from 30 years ago, UN Women, the Economic and Social Council, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, the UN Environmental Programme, the World Health Organisation, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Human Rights Council, and the Special Conference.
This was the longest preparation for the conference for a while. The second-year chairs have been working on their committees since October, having been choosing through a mix of presentations, interviews, and even some cloak-and-dagger politics. This year the 1st year cohort got to engage with MUN training as an EAC, and the weekly practice shone through as many of the speakers stood up and delivered stirring performances. All students also had three in-depth preparation sessions over a month to get everyone on the same page. Hats off to all the committee chairs and the security team for deftly managing all the interventions and the personalities in all the sessions.
On Thursday, we had two very inspiring talks.
The first was with Fioralba Shkodra, the Head of the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office in Serbia. She has worked with Sustainable Development Goals for over a decade in multiple countries. It was good to learn from someone engaged with making aspirational SDGs become achieved goals. She helped us appreciate how she works on both long-term continuing programs and emergencies.
The later talk was with Alexander Stubb, a former Finnish Prime Minister. He shared his life as lawmaker, government minister, and prime minister and the demands of each role. He spoke about his life in the European Investment Bank, and his return to academia, and he gave us many ideas on how we can contribute across different spheres.
The General Assembly debate on the final day focused on protecting journalists worldwide. You can imagine how fun and hectic getting agreement among a hundred delegates can be – even in something we can all agree on.
