IOMUN 15, on Sunday December 3, lived up to its name: International Online MUN, with nearly 100 participants from two dozen schools on five continents. The conference was divided into four committees: two beginner committees simulating the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) promoting sustainable tourism; an intermediate committee, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), focused on integration of refugees, and a Council of Olympus crisis committee involving Greek Gods.
The conference opened with a keynote speech from Dana Rapoport, Senior Communications Assistant at UNHCR Israel. Dana gave an overview of the work that UNHCR does, highlighting the rising number of refugees and internally displaced persons globally, and what the role of UNHCR is in helping people displaced by conflicts and disasters.
From the opening ceremony the delegates moved into separate committees, where they engaged in a high level debate from the beginning of the conference, before drafting their respective resolutions to address the complex global challenges they were addressing. By the evening the committees were ready to vote on their resolutions. The UNWTO delegates tried to focus on amplifying the positive impacts of tourism while minimizing environmental harm. In the UNHCR efforts were focused on how to better support refugees. And in the Council of Olympus, suggestions included temporary shocks to the global economic system for the overall betterment of humanity.
At the closing ceremony the students were congratulated by Caroline Platt, a diplomat from the US Embassy in Israel, for their hard work and dedication to diplomacy and solving problems collaboratively. Caroline talked about the importance of building relationships between people and other people skills that come in handy during diplomacy.
In the UNWTO A committee, Daniel Hay (Ironi Yud Dalet) and Rani Yakobov (Atid Lod) won Outstanding Delegate, while Noga Vander (Atid Lod) was Best Delegate. In UNWTO B, Shmaya Saban (Shaked Darca) and Ali Omer (South Windsor High School) won Outstanding Delegate, while Sokol Luci (QSI Kosovo) won Best Delegate.
In UNHCR, Yogev Pinkas and Roy Berenstein (Atid Lod) were Outstanding Delegates, and Itamar Assenheim (Atid Lod) was Best Delegate. In the Council of Olympus crisis committee, Naomi Gildor (Studio Ankori) and Anna Rodriguez Stewart (FDR school) were Outstanding Delegates, and Melo Choshane (WBAIS) was the Best Delegate.
IOMUN 15’s Secretariat was led by Yaniv Becker (Chen Young Ambassadors school), Maria Cheremina and Ethan Moncarz (Walworth Barbour American International School), Nana Awadeie (Greek Catholic high school), Angjelina Glasnović and Źiva Benedejčič (Pristina High School), and Grant Bagga and Anoushka Das (Westfield Academy).
The chairs included Yuval Saar and Tslil Israeli (Atid Lod high school for Sciences), Julia Prieto (Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences), Joseph Lange (QSI International School of Kosovo) and Trixie Bonita from Golden Faith Academy, with the crisis team composed of Juan José Yepes Ortiz (Gimnasio Moderno); Renée Marielle González Díaz (American Institute of Monterrey), Christine Kayla Bonita (Golden Faith Academy) and Audrey Pettibon (Seattle Academy).
IOMUN 16 will take place on Sunday January 14. Registration and topics will be available on the IOMUN Instagram account.
Debate for Peace 