On February 11th and 12th, 150 students from around the world participated in the ISM Model United Nations 2021 conference, on the theme of reducing inequality within and among countries.
Students confidently and diplomatically simulated parliamentary procedure of the United Nations. Committee topics included « The abolition of domestic violence in the face of the pandemic » and « International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. » The committees in session were the Security Council, World Health Organization, ECOSOC, and Human Rights.
We were honoured to have Ms. Carole Lanteri, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Monaco to the United Nations Office in Geneva, join us from the UN offices with some insightful opening remarks. We also welcomed words from Vibeke Thomson, founder of ‘ShecanHecan’ and a member of the Global Diplomatic Forum London and the Global Advisory Council of the Akilah Institute for Women, Kigali (Rwanda).
Following the theatre of the opening ceremony, delegates moved to the more arduous tasks of merging resolutions between delegations within committee and subcommittee meetings. Each committee was led by a team of well trained and more experienced chairs from senior school, who executed their roles with confidence and authority. « Creating platforms for students to become more autonomous learners is vital to growing future leaders, and this is so very apparent within MUN, » stated Mr Oxley, MUN Director at ISM.
Upon completion of the closing ceremony where students celebrated the resolutions passed and best delegate awards were distributed, the Secretary and Deputy Secretary-General closed the conference. Following a debriefing session, our students now move forward in preparation for their next conference in Sophia Antipolis in April.