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Did you know that you can “play pretend” that you are a diplomat defending the opinions of different countries? That’s basically what a MUN is!
MUN stands for Model United Nations. A MUN aims to pursue an external political view, following the position of the country chosen by the delegation, sort out the topic and make a great resolution. Engaging hundreds of thousands of students around the globe each year, their goal is to help them learn more about the principles of the United Nations and how it really functions.
The simulations work around debates, crises and historical facts. In a simulation, you can be a delegation representing a country, a historical character, or even an international organization, such as the World Health Organization. At the end of each conference, awards are given to the best delegations of each committee. Colleges such as Harvard and Yale, have their own simulation, named HMUN and YMUN, which, just like the colleges, are very prestigious and highly difficult to participate in.
Fun fact: MUN’s started way before ONU, first as simulations of the extinct League of Nations in 1920.
BRAMUN
In Brazil, MUN’s are not a huge thing like in other countries, yet. However, since 2002, BRAMUN has been proudly presented as one of the largest MUN conferences in Brazil. Usually, it takes place somewhere in the Northeast of our beautiful country. In 2024, it happened in Costa do Sauípe in Salvador, Bahia. BRAMUN is for a selected group of people, mostly because of the high expenses that come with the conference.
As well as a project of ERESP (the Representative Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), there’s a MUN called MONUEM, dedicated to students from public high schools who can take part in the committees they have.
Every year, more schools and colleges get to know what MUN is and start to get more involved, engaging their students to participate. Most of the time, they do their own MUN, organizing it from the start. Creating a secretariat (with General Secretary, Under-General secretary, Midia Secretary, etc), deciding along with a teacher, called advisor, what committees they will have while exploring the variety of options that the official UN offers, such as Human Rights Council, Security Council, UNESCO, UNICEF and others.
ONU simulations are a great way to help students understand and debate important topics about concerns that exist around the world. Many of today’s leaders in law, government, business, and arts participated in MUN’s as students. On top of that, it’s a great place to socialize, make friends and get to experience a new environment.
This is a wonderful experience if you like political and historical debates. When you do it for the first time, you will definitely want more and more.
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The article above was edited by Lorena Lindenberg
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