Harvard World Model United Nations

Harvard World Model United Nations

Abbreviation	WorldMUN
Formation	1991
Type	NGO
Purpose	Education
Location	Cambridge, MA
Official language	English
Secretary General	Brian K. Mwarania
Main organ	Organizing Committee
Website	www.worldmun.org

The Harvard World Model United Nations (WorldMUN) is an annual traveling Model United Nations conference that is run by Harvard students and a local university team from a host city. WorldMUN moves to a new international city each year and attracts over 2,000 college and graduate students from more than 70 countries, making it the largest international collegiate-level Model UN conference in the world.^[1]

Founded in 1991, WorldMUN has traveled to 23 cities in six continents, including The Hague in the Netherlands; Istanbul, Turkey; Puebla, Mexico; Geneva, Switzerland; Brussels, Belgium; Beijing, China; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt; Heidelberg, Germany; and Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

WorldMUN Locations

Harvard WorldMUN utilizes a competitive bidding process to select its conference locations and host teams. Each year, prospective host teams submit bid documents outlining their capacity to co-host a conference of WorldMUN's magnitude. Prospective teams also highlight aspects of their local culture that would be showcased throughout the conference. After deliberations, the conference location is selected through a secret ballot.

Vancouver, Canada was the host for the 21st Harvard WorldMUN, which was held from 11-15 March 2012. The 22nd session was held in Melbourne, Australia from 18-22 March 2013.^[2] The 2014 conference took place from 17-21 March in Brussels, Belgium. It was announced on 1 May 2014 that Seoul, South Korea would host the 24th session of the conference from 16-20 March 2015.^[3]

Conference Activities

Committee sessions

Participants are assigned to represent countries, organizations, or leaders in order to debate pressing international issues in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organization (IGO). WorldMUN divides all its committees into three organs:

General Assembly

The General Assembly encompasses all 193 Members of the United Nations, posing this unique forum at the deliberative, policymaking, and representative core of the UN. Established under the original 1945 Charter of the UN, the GA was conceived alongside the birth of the UN and captures the all-encompassing spirit of multilateral discussion that motivated the formation of its parent international organization. Because of the organ’s inclusiveness, and therefore far-reaching influence, GA resolutions have often taken on the role of landmark documents reflecting UN commitment to international issues and serving as a manifesto for solving these issues. At WorldMUN, the GA is distinguished by well-moderated, fluid debate; passionate delegates; and necessarily intense and productive caucusing to forge broad alliances to sustain innovative draft resolutions.

ECOSOC and Regional Bodies

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) governs approximately 70% of the United Nations’ human and financial resources, promoting it to a highly influential position in the world today. The regional bodies provide a culturally sensitive and geographically focused platform for discussion on vital issues, carrying out the mission of the UN in different areas of the world. Due to their ideal size, these committees allow delegates to not only be challenged by diverse perspectives, but take the floor multiple times, offering a unique opportunity to engage in intense, yet intimate debate.

Specialized Agencies

The Specialized Agencies (SA) organ of WorldMUN offers the most intimate and crisis-oriented committees, promising thrilling simulations, refreshing diversity, and tight-knit environments. The SA aims to emulate the fast-paced and unpredictable challenges that face our global leaders, allowing delegates to work closely with a group of passionate peers to tackle these issues. These committees are intended for experienced delegates who seek to confront the highest levels of international debate, cooperation, and decision-making.

Social Venture challenge

The social venture challenge allows interested participants to compete for grants to implement their creative solutions for healthcare, education, human rights, technology, water, and other areas. This is through WorldMUN's partnership with the Resolution Project, a U.S. 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2007 by WorldMUN alumni, dedicated to empowering young leaders around the world through collaborative social entrepreneurship.

In-conference activities

These include in-conference trips and workshops. The trips give conference participants a change to explore the host city and its culture whereas the workshops allow participants to interact with diplomats, politicians and academics to discuss a variety of .

Social events

WorldMUN's social events are pivotal to the WordMUN experience.

Night Zero: Before conference kicks off, delegates and staff gather for a night out to inaugurate the conference.
Global Village: Every year, WorldMUN starts off its social agenda with Global Village. This is the first opportunity for delegates to meet each other in a social setting. Delegations host a booth where they can share traditions, delicacies, and more from their home countries.
Featured night 1: Designed by the Host Team of the year for participants to experience the host city's local culture.
Cabaret: Also a WorldMUN tradition, delegates showcase their talents on stage in Cabaret on the third night.
Featured night 2: Designed by the Host Team of the year for participants to experience the host city's local culture.
Farewell Party: Traditionally, WorldMUN closes with this final social event.

Past WorldMUN Conferences

Session	Year	Location
Session	Year	City	Country	Secretary General	Host Team President	Local Host Team	Conference Venue	Delegation Awards
1	1992	Miedzyzdroje	Poland	Geraldine Acuña		N/A	Hotel Amber Baltic
2	1993	Prague	Czech Republic	Joshua A. Saloman		N/A
3	1994	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Ankur U. Saraiya		N/A
4	1995	Geneva	Switzerland	Emmeline Li		N/A
5	1996	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Aram A. Schvey		N/A
6	1997	Budapest	Hungary	Andras Forgacs		Budapest University of Economic Sciences
7	1998	Brussels	Belgium	Johs Pierce		Vrije Universiteit Brussel
8	1999	Cambridge	United Kingdom	Winnie Li		University of Cambridge
9	2000	Athens	Greece	James Mwangi		National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
10	2001	Istanbul	Turkey	Rohan Gulrajani		[[]]
11	2002	Belo Horizonte	Brazil	Aspasia Karalis		Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais	Ouro Minas Palace Hotel	Best Large Delegation: Yale University Best Small Delegation: [[]]
12	2003	Heidelberg	Germany	George Tsiatis		University of Heidelberg	University of Heidelberg - Old Town Campus	Best Large Delegation: Best Small Delegation: WAD SQUAD
13	2004	Sharm El-Sheikh	Egypt	George Tsiatis		Modern Sciences and Arts University	Maritim Jolie Ville Mövenpick Golf, Resort & Conference Center	Best Large Delegation: Best Small Delegation:
14	2005	Edinburgh	United Kingdom	Alex Captain		University of Edinburgh	University of Edinburgh	Best Large Delegation: The College of William & Mary Best Small Delegation:
15	2006	Beijing	China	Victor Bicalho		Peking University	Peking University	Best Large Delegation: The College of William & Mary Best Small Delegation:
16	2007	Geneva	Switzerland	Khalid Yasin		École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Centre international de conférences de Genève (CICG)	Best Large Delegation: Best Small Delegation:
17	2008	Puebla	Mexico	Joseph Kerns	Manuel Rosas Vázquez	Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla	Convention Center of Puebla	Best Large Delegation: Best Small Delegation: Outstanding Large Delegation: Universidad Central de Venezuela
18	2009	The Hague	Netherlands	Timur Kalimov	José Dominguez Alvarez	United Netherlands	World Forum Convention Center and the International Criminal Court	Best Large Delegation: MUN Society Belgium Best Small Delegation:
19	2010	Taipei	Taiwan	Ami Nash	Jason Tsung-Cheng Hou	National Taiwan University	Taipei International Convention Center	Best Large Delegation: MUN Society Belgium Best Small Delegation:
20	2011	Singapore	Singapore	Reihan Nadarajah	Jinh Zhi & Sharmeen Alam	National University of Singapore	Suntec Singapore International Convention Centre	Best Large Delegation: MUN Society Belgium Best Small Delegation:
21	2012	Vancouver	Canada	Kat Tang	Kenneth Chan	University of British Columbia	Vancouver Convention Centre	Best Large Delegation: Universidad Catolica Andres Bello Best Small Delegation: Claremont McKenna College
22	2013	Melbourne	Australia	Charlene Wong	Siamak Loni	Monash University & RMIT University	Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre	Best Large Delegation: MUN Society Belgium Best Small Delegation: College of William & Mary Outstanding Large Delegation: Universidad Central de Venezuela
23	2014	Brussels	Belgium	Grace Y. Qi	Jens Wauters	MUN Society Belgium	Egmont Palace, European Council and The Hotel Brussels	Best Large Delegations: Peruvian Universities ^[4] and Universidad Simón Bolívar^[5] Best Small Delegation: Georgetown University International Relations Club ^[6]
24	2015	Seoul	Republic of Korea	Brian K. Mwarania	Hyun-Joo Lee	Hankuk University of Foreign Studies	Korea International Exhibition Center	Best Large Delegation: Universidad Simón Bolívar Best Small Delegation: Claremont McKenna College Outstanding Large Delegation: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello