MOISL-students participating in WorldMUN

The virtual conference was held from 13-18 March with 1100 delegates participating, four of them being our MOISL-students Karoline Gustad, Kenneth Berg, Victor Risom and Paul Wendrich.

“It was the first time participating in WorldMUN for all of us, so I think we went into it without any expectations,” says Karoline. “The best part of it was meeting so many engaged and dedicated young people! It was really inspiring seeing young people as young as 13 years old from all over the world passionate about WorldMUN, diplomacy, and finding solutions to different world problems. In that regard, it was a really good experience that I'm glad I got to experience with my friends at MOISL. WorldMUN is really great for working on one's skills in public speaking, facilitating debates, and also a good platform for group work and networking. It is also just an excellent place to have some fun, and live in a world for a couple of intense days where you pretend to solve some pressing world issues.”

Victor represented Brazil in the SOCHUM (the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee) with a focus on indigenous peoples. “Karoline and I were successful in getting our resolution through, which was a big clap on the shoulders for us, as it is a big ‘win’. Most importantly we had a lot of fun working together, getting to know each other, and exploring diplomacy,” he says about the experience. “It was definitely stressing and tough, but I also got a really good feeling from all the compliments other delegates gave us after our speeches.”

Although the students had received relatively little training and knew little about what was going to happen during the committee sessions, Paul believes that the MOISL programme gave them a good preparation for the kind of debates they had during the sessions. “The committee sessions were interesting and a great way to practice public speaking, negotiating, and multitasking, as we had to follow the debate in session, prepare for our own speeches, as well as follow up to six different chats on WhatsApp. I think, personally, I have benefitted from seeing the process of working in a committee and trying to work with a single topic for multiple days with people from across the world,” he adds.

Kenneth was also fond of the experience. “The days were long, filled with debates and presentations, working with, and competing against people from the whole world. New subjects were brought up constantly, forcing me to adapt from hour to hour and all in all it was some exciting days, which can be recommended to everyone who has in interest the workings of the UN,” he says.

You can read more about WorldMUN here and check out our MOISL programme here.