By definition, Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations where students play the role of delegates from different countries and attempt to solve real world issues with the policies and perspectives of their assigned country. For example, a student may be assigned United States and will have to solve global topics such as nuclear non-proliferation or climate change from the policies and perspectives of United States.
MUN2020 was my first experience and everything seemed obscure to me. Firstly, when I came to know about MUN, I contacted my senior to know about the procedures. She gave me an allotment in HRC and then in DISEC (Disarmament and International Security Committee) as the PM of Bangladesh. However, I was very much interested in economics, so I coaxed her that I particularly wished to be a part of World Economic Forum (WEF). Finally, I was given a place in WEF and was appointed Ashraf Ghani, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, two days prior to the MUN.
Agendas were announced beforehand and I had to start my research on the agenda which was “Institutions and Economy post covid-19”. I would like to make a long story short about the procedures of MUN. At the beginning of each committee session, the Chairperson conducts a roll call in which the delegates should respond by saying either ‘present’ or ‘present and voting’. The meeting was held online and instead of placards, we had to raise our hands. So, the Chairperson asked all the delegates, who wished to make a speech, to press on the ‘raise hand’ option after which their names were placed on the General Speakers List (GSL). There were two types of caucuses – moderated caucus and unmoderated caucus. Moderated caucus is a kind of a formal debate where delegates are called upon by the Chairperson to address their opinions about the agenda for a specific amount of time. Unmoderated caucus is an informal debate where the rules of procedure are suspended and the delegates can discuss about the following mod-caucus topics. After the solutions were suggested by all the delegates, at the end of the session, we had to prepare a draft resolution where all of our suggestions were placed. In my opinion, the most important tip for first-timers is that we ought to be thorough with the agenda and clear with the speech we make as there may be questions asked by delegates pertaining to our speech.
These days, a person participating in MUN has become a dime a dozen. On one hand, my first-time experience was really commendable. I learnt a lot of economic topics and this has triggered a strong sense of love for economics. On the other hand, I feel that MUN could have been better in terms of the rules of procedure and the debating process. However, as a coin has two faces, in my opinion, even MUN has its own merits and demerits. On the whole, it was a wonderful experience and I am exhilarated about the following MUNs.
Chinmayi Srinivasan's personal website 