MUN or Model UN is a simulated conference where students represent the various countries of the UN in different committees. I’ve been Argentina in UNEP, the Philippines in DISEC, Australia in UNODC, and so much more. The never ending possibilities of what countries you can be and what topics you debate are what draw me, personally, to MUN.

There are different TYPES of committees you can do as well. I tend to gravitate to double del (delegate) General Assemblies, however, you can also do specs (specialized) or crisis committees. Each style has it’s own distinctive practices.

I’ll start with a quick explanation of double del GAs (general assembly). In these types of committees you have a partner whom you coordinate speeches and build blocs with. They’re typically larger in terms of the amount of people present as well. Some of the biggest conferences can hold 300+ delegates.

A single delegate committee can also be a GA. The only different is that you don’t do one in one out (I’ll do a separate post on this). Specs are also an option as a single del. If you go to any high school conferences you’ll likely have some pretty fun options here. I’ve seen Breaking Bad and even F1 committees.

As for a crisis committee, you are typically a single del, however, I’ve seen UNSC committees where you double del. This differs A LOT from GAs, specs, and other types of committees as you have to write crisis notes (I’ll also do a more specific post on this later).

The main objective of a MUN conference is to build and lead blocs. A bloc is the group of delegates you choose to work with. You have to make and rehearse speeches, spoken in front of your committees, and ensure that you project your voice well. Charisma and confidence is essential to ensuring that you are your bloc’s leader.

Your bloc then write your resolution paper where you present your solutions to the issue at hand. you pick one of the two topics presented to you in the background guide at the beginning of committee. In fact, the first speech you make is to convince your committee to vote for a certain topic. I’ve found that people tend to gravitate towards topic A because it’s the first one you research.

Then once you finish your resolution paper you present it to your committee with your bloc. Some members will take part in “presentations,” where you just describe your paper, while others will participate in “Q and A” where member of your committee ask questions.

Model UN is insanely fun but there’s also a learning curve so don’t worry if this post was a bit confusing. I’ll go more in depth in later ones! This is just a quick overview.