I recently had the opportunity to meet with one of our UNMC Mentors – Ms. Kay. Our meeting was incredibly interesting, and she offered several warm words of advice regarding community building in our committee, and the general significance of Model United Nations.

Ms. Kay is a well-experienced educator, currently working as the PYP Coordinator for UNIS Hanoi. She’s been teaching at this school for over 7 years, and has been involved with UNISMUN ever since. 

Upon discussing her general overview of MUN, she notes how it offers students more than simply a chance to exercise their knowledge of global politics. It challenges them to think critically, speak strategically and develop independent research skills with complex topics, but it also builds leadership. Whether you are at the frontline of your committee, presenting heated speeches; carrying out important logistical tasks as admin; or capturing every moment with equal intensity as media; you play an important role in shaping something bigger than yourself. It is this collective effort that shapes UNISMUN, yet it requires that every participant is active and engaged with this project – providing an “authentic opportunity to lead others”, as stated in her words. I found this very inspiring and a real reflection of the bigger-picture mission of these conferences.

As we moved forward, we looked at what effective leadership can look like. She emphasized the key words: “trust and inspire”, explaining how a good leader should seek to encourage their team and build internal motivation to accomplish a task. A community built through genuine connection and real, sincere communication tends to be far more cohesive than one based on micromanagement and unapproachable leaders. Applying this to my committee, I will always seek to offer support over judgement, and understanding over critique. Sometimes this may look like pulling someone to the side for a 1 to 1 chat, or ensuring every delegate has access to the resources they need. Whatever the scenario, she reminds me to act with warmth and personalize my help to each member’s needs. 

A highlight of our meeting for me was when she explained what inspires her to work with young children as the PYP Coordinator. She described how they have such a unique sense of imaginative energy, creativity and sparkle – qualities which we so often overlook as we grow older. As we move into this conference, gathering a committee full of different people with unique experiences and backgrounds, I aim to foster this same spirit of curiosity. Whether that be through ice-breakers, activities and teamwork during committee sessions, or committee fun between debate sessions and breaks, I hope this will be an incredibly memorable conference for all. 

Guided by Ms. Kay’s thoughtful advice, and the bustling energy she and her team in Elementary school bring to our community, I feel very excited for the days to come. It's with her guidance on team-building, support and kindness that I enter this conference – and throughout it, I’ll do my best to integrate that same passion and energy as her young students in PYP.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with my committee mentor: Señor Graña for a discussion on the United Nations Membership Committee (UNMC) for this upcoming March Conference. We were able to talk through several of the committee topics, guidance on how to manage conference preparations and his perspectives on MUN as a whole.

Señor Graña is the MSHS Spanish Language Acquisition teacher, and has been working with UNISMUN throughout several past conferences – making him a well-experienced mentor. 

I had the opportunity to travel with him through other past conferences, and found his guidance on speech clarity, audibility and proper organization very valuable. He consistently directed our team towards areas of improvement in every detail of our speaking, ensuring we brought our best selves to the conference. This has served as a strong inspiration towards my role as chair, and I hope to bring this energy and attention to detail to the UNMC.

To begin, we discussed his insights on the UNMC Committee topics. With the question of States’ Membership, we discussed that delegates’ knowledge of geopolitical relationships as well as the economic, cultural and military significance of areas like Hawai’i, Balochistan and Tigray would be essential for realistic debate. Independence, and States’ responsibilities to uphold citizen’s quality of life and rights upon gaining membership is a complex matter. Evaluating a state's eligibility for UN Membership will require a strong understanding of both domestic and international affairs – often sparking conflict between states.

He stressed that it will be crucial for delegates and chairs alike, to steer debate towards finding truly effective solutions to the issues at hand. With a unique committee like the UNMC, striking the careful balance between riveted and unproductive debate will be essential to developing real-world oriented resolutions. 

To achieve this, he emphasized the importance of supporting strong delegate preparation, offering several suggestions such as work-check systems, group calls and strong committee communication on delegate preparation deadlines. 

In addition, we discussed several strategies and ice-breakers which would create strong chemistry between delegates and chairs to kickoff our committee. He explained how we could incorporate MUN themes into physical energizers, to naturally get delegates kickstarted into their country role and group together those with similar stances.

Overall, my meeting with Señor Graña was very insightful, and challenged me to further understand my role as chair through my responsibility to prepare delegates thoroughly, and build connections within my committee. His experience in MUN really shone through with the guidance he gave me on how to ensure my committee is productive and on-track both pre, and during the conference. He continuously serves as an inspiration to me for his leadership and direction-giving skills, and I will do my best to embody his energy throughout the UNMC.

Honourable directors, esteemed guests, fellow chairs, and most distinguished delegates,

My name is Simi Lee and I am a Junior at Seoul Foreign School in South Korea. I joined MUN in my Freshman year of high school, and have since attended 7 conferences over the past 3 years. This UNISMUN marks my 5th time chairing, and my 2nd year in a row chairing for the UNMC committee here. 

This year's theme of  “Is our rules based international system able to adapt to contemporary challenges to security and sovereignty?” offers an interesting opportunity to delegates, through which you must take unique stances on each agenda to draft effective resolutions.

For our three agendas, “On the membership of: 1. Hawaii 2. Tigray 3. Balochistan”, delegates will encounter topics which they have no previous experience with and likely limited knowledge. From this point they must reach a point where they can host effective discussion that would mirror a UN environment realistically. Effective research and an in depth understanding of all concepts covered in Chair Reports are essential to success in this committee.

Firstly, on Hawaii. Hawaii is quite widely known as the 50th state of the US. However, delegates must be deeply aware of the inner workings of Hawaii’s annexation and its legal status should it be recommended to be a UN member state as this would likely require secession from the United States. 

Secondly, on Tigray. The Tigray Region is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob and Kunama people. Tigray's arguments for statehood are often held as contingent on their ability to hold and maintain a proper democracy in a post-war climate. Delegates must be aware of the implications of Tigray's cooperation with the greater Ethiopian government on their claim to sovereignty.

Finally, on Balochistan. Balochistan is a region split across Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, most notably as Pakistan's largest province, bordering the Arabian Sea. Delegates must be aware of Balochistan's previous examples of statehood and the impacts of Pakistan's forced annexation on current arguments.

Within all arguments delegates should of course weigh the opinions of those residing in the various regions, as more often than not an overwhelming majority are against secessionist policy and would rather remain citizens of their current country.

While I hope all delegates maintain realistic representations of their countries' stances at all times, personal opinions are bound to shine through in various ways and I am interested as to how delegates will balance different sources and stances accordant to their own beliefs.

Though the United Nation Member Council does not exist in the real UN, within the scope of the larger UNISMUN conference it is still a large and important committee! The agendas that we will focus on are nonetheless pertinent to real world people, and I hope as a chair that delegates will keep this in mind throughout the conference.

Though this is not technically a real-life committee, I hope delegates will take the opportunity to truly make this conference your own. Your word is your strength and your effort is the reward, for all of us.

See you in March!

Dear directors, delegates, guests, and fellow chairs,

My name is Maite Olivia Senff, and I am a sophomore at UNIS Hanoi. Ever since having attended my first MUN Conference, I gained a deep passion for the riveted debate, global topics and teamwork that forms the foundation of MUN. MUN has taught me to look beyond the surface into the root of global issues, inspiring me to always think thoroughly before concluding my stance. This has played a huge  role in shaping my love for politics and history. This March will mark my 5th MUN conference. Having participated in a range of roles, from admin to delegate, and now chair, I’m extremely honored to say this will be my second time chairing for the UNMC. I’m incredibly excited to have the chance at playing a role in molding the success of this unique committee once again.

Looking at our conference theme, "Is our rules-based international system able to adapt to contemporary challenges to security and sovereignty?" I interpret this through the lens of AI and the ever evolving range of modern security threats. I firmly believe technology can benefit society, and can be used in beautiful ways to save, improve or change lives of those who would otherwise have had much more difficulty accessing resources they need. Simultaneously, through the wrong incentives it can be weaponized quickly. Picturing our committee through this theme,  I envision this committee’s debate analyzing state’s admissibility to the UN through a new lens – evaluating their competency to adapt to modern technology while assessing how agencies like the UN may equip advanced technology to monitor and analyze whether region’s economic, social and political states meet the criteria for UN membership.

The UNMC– with its influence on the membership of emerging states holds the power to shape our political future. Each decision, each resolution and each membership granted adds new elements onto the ever-tilting scale of geopolitics. It's crucial that this council upholds the responsibility to maintain this balance.

As for the UNMC’s committee topics, I see the memberships of Hawaii and Balochistan as heated concerns of colonization rights. The annexation of Hawaii in 1898 by the United States reportedly violated international law of the time. If so, current geographics, which consider Hawaii one of the 50 U.S states, resulted from illegal measures. This remains a strong argument for citizens striving to preserve Hawaii’s unique cultural heritage and gain independent autonomy over water and land rights across the fertile region. 

Similarly, Balochistan was forcibly annexed by Pakistan in 1958. Formerly run by tribal leaders and chieftains, the area held its own culture and political ideologies. Additionally, locals argue Pakistan has been exploiting the rich natural resources of the region– disadvantageously impacting the economy and its reliance on Pakistan as a whole. These ethnic and cultural disparities fueled significant push-back during the integration of Balochistan under Pakistan– forming the foundation of today’s strive for sovereignty. 

Across these 2 topics, I believe delegates should examine the influence of historical injustice on current geography. Debate and resolutions should seek to answer the question: if a state’s previous actions violated international law, where do we draw the line today? 

The membership of Tigray is clearly an issue of great scale, concerning political power imbalances and conflict surrounding the interpretation of Article 39 in the UN Charter. Decades of dispute over regional authority, Ethiopian rule and alleged genocide have driven large scale conflicts throughout the region’s borders. Resolutions should seek to balance addressing the immediate concerns of violence with long-term stability goals. Throughout this debate, delegates are highly encouraged to directly reference and incorporate UN Charter 2 (Articles 3-6) throughout their arguments, as this section forms the framework for membership admissibility.

I’m extremely excited to meet everyone at this conference, I hope you all are too!

Thank you,

Maite Senff - Deputy Chair of UNMC

Hello! 

I’m Gillian Cao, a sophomore at the International School of Beijing, and I’m immensely excited and grateful to serve as the procedural chair of the United Nations Membership Council (UNMC) at UNISMUN. I’ve participated in MUN for the past 4 years and attended 15 conferences, with this one being my 16th. 

This year’s theme, “Is our rules-based international system able to adapt to contemporary challenges to security and sovereignty?”, really highlights the purpose of the UNMC. We wish for delegates to carefully evaluate membership and recognition through all the different legal, ethical, and political lenses, and consider the limitations of current international frameworks when dealing with new and unpredictable conflicts. 

Although the UNMC isn’t actually a committee within the United Nations, it asks the pivotal question: who is granted representation and a voice globally?

This year’s topics are the questions of membership for Hawaii, Balochistan, and Tigray. Hawaii discusses historical annexation, indigenous rights, and whether previous violations of international law should be reconsidered today. Balochistan draws attention to issues surrounding political marginalization, resource control, and ethnic identity. And the topic that I will be focusing on, “The Membership of Tigray”, provokes conversations on self-determination, internal sovereignty, and international responsibility in the context of armed conflict and alleged human rights violations.

I’m looking forward to seeing new ideas and perspectives from all of you. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to reach out to me.

See you in March!