The Marist MUN Conference

Another Husky First

by Hanaë Hamazaki

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On February 22, The HIS MUN team flew all the way from Hokkaido to Kōbe for their first MUN conference at “Marist MUN’s 36th Annual Conference”. The conference was held from the 23rd of February to the 24th of February. The students had prepared for this conference for over a month. The excitement, the nervousness, and the anticipation were very real as this was the first in-person conference for everyone in the team. Although some members had attended online conferences last year, this experience was completely different. The delegates worked long hours in a conference room to achieve their respective delegated delate goals. The experience was grueling but realistic, and another positive was the way delegates from various schools had many chances to interact and socialize with each other. Connecting with students from other parts of Japan was a unique experience that could not be fully replicated online. 

During the 1st half of the day on February 23rd, the whole General assembly was divided into 4 groups:

1. Militarization of Space
2. Young Caregivers
3. Fast Fashion
4. Factory Farming.

Each delegate had to defend their own country by coming up with clauses to put into the resolution that would later be debated by the whole general assembly, which consisted of almost 100 people.

In the second half of the 23rd, the general assembly debated on a resolution while Security Council delegates had to make a resolution on an emergency crisis concerning Pakistan and India, which would be debated on the last day. 

On the afternoon of the last day, all participants of the conference got to debate the emergency crisis resolution. In the end, it was the only resolution during the conference that passed, which left all delegates with a satisfied feeling as we had worked together to solve a problem, taking some important steps toward the Model UN motto: "All for MUN, MUN for all!" 

Overall, this experience was refreshing and exciting. Students were able to feel the thrill of being in a proper conference room full of new people; debating and defending their countries.