Thank you, delegates, advocates and MUN director for our appearance as ISH last week. We had a worthwhile experience at the MUNISA. We are grateful for the sophisticated organization of this event by the Board of Directors of International School Amsterdam. The open-minded ambiance and welcoming atmosphere encouraged critical thinking and co-operation. It was the perfect opportunity for our first timers to get a taste of MUN.
The MUNISA opening ceremony was special because the guest speaker, VVD member: Ton Van Nimweg gave an insight into current Dutch Politics. The delegates brought up elections, collision government, housing and other vital topics which were discussed in the Question-and-Answer opportunity. “When Mr. Van Nimweg talked about his role in the VVD, it helped me notice that people in politics may have to make professional statements and take actions based on a collaborative and compromised reasoning rather than solely their own opinion,” shared Neha Mali.
This moment shed light on the complexity of conflicts and how most decisions are not an obvious yes or no and are often in fact debatable.
Mr. Van Nimweg gave a well-rounded overview from a neutral perspective as well as that of the governing political party (VVD).
In this MUN we had multiple first timers from both Grade 9 and 10. They got to know about different global topics, and they applied their understanding in their resolutions. At the conference, they saw other delegates’ views on the respective topic. “At MUNISA, I learnt about the international perspectives on weaponry policies,” said Naysa Mundhra, who was in the First Committee of the General Assembly at her first conference. The delegates who were nervous about what it would be like got plenty of reassurance from the more experienced delegates and after the weekend, they got familiar with voting, speeches, amendments, points and motions. They are now involved in the MUN community and are hopefully in for attending other conferences soon.
We had 2 students from ISH participate in the ICJ as advocates for the respondent team on the Australia vs. Japan Whaling conflict. They were first timers to the ICJ procedure and Catherina Roggeveen and Anushka Seth put up a strong case for Japan. They prepared stipulations, evidence, and a memorandum prior to the conference. Once there, they were part of an intimate committee consisting of 10 people. Throughout the conference, they made speeches, interrogations and the questioning of ISA students called in as witnesses were especially amusing. The advocates briefly prepared their witnesses who had to be questioned by the opposite party and it was impressive how much they added to the case. Ultimately, it was something new and different from the usual resolution writing procedure. It really stimulated a courtroom and was a meaningful exposure for our ISH advocates.
Being part of MUN means attending conferences occasionally and gaining knowledge about the world. This can enrichen vocabulary, activate critical thinking and most importantly advance social skills that can be carried with for the diverse professional fields the students are destined to enter. The art of constructing astute phrases is a life skill which is especially emphasized in resolution writing. Further, the verbal approach of convincing others is also practiced in MUN in making speeches where students worked hard to be persuasive. This is something they must take with them because they collect strategies such as voice-modulation, facial expression, evaluations and much more.
“MUN conferences have really pushed me out of my comfort zone to develop the ability to speak in front of a large audience of unknown people about a newly learnt topic. It taught me to improvise radically and research on the spot to make valid argumentative points against opposing delegations,” - Neha Mali after MUNISA, her 2nd MUN.
ISH encourages students who are fascinated by this disciplined practice. We thank the MUN Directors for supporting us to be a part of the MUN community. Well done delegates and advocates, keep up the good work!