On November 3-6, 2022, ten members of Baylor’s Model United Nations team along with one head delegate traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the 16th annual NMUN-DC conference, representing Kenya in five committees. This was the first national Model UN conference for nine of the ten team members. The conference attained its pre-pandemic size and diversity of schools participating as more than 1,000 delegations from universities across the United States as well as from Germany, Italy, China, Norway, Canada, Taiwan, South Africa, and Japan debated and drafted resolutions on topics including:
• The Relationship Between Disarmament and Development (GA 1);
• Addressing International Migration and Development (GA 2);
• Protecting and Restoring Marine Habitats (UNEA);
• Addressing Global Vaccine Distribution Disparities (WHA); and
• The Situation in Afghanistan (SC).
The ten Members of Baylor’s team represented Kenya in five committees: General Assembly First (GA 1), General Assembly Second (GA 2), United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), World Health Assembly (WHA), and Security Council (SC). The team was named an Honorable Mention Delegation for its work across these five committees. Awards are commendable in any semester but considering only one of the delegates assigned to represent Kenya had attended an in-person collegiate MUN conference before, this accomplishment is all the more noteworthy for this young team.
In addition to the Honorable Mention award shared by the whole team, our club and class members received Outstanding Position Paper Awards in three of the five committees in which they participated: GA 2, WHA, and Security Council. Position paper awards recognize and reward the delegates’ preparation and research; these papers are submitted weeks in advance of conference to be judged by committee staff. Before students are prepared to write a position paper, though, they must complete extensive research on the policy positions of their assigned Member State, immersing themselves in speeches, press releases, and news articles by the Member State in order to portray their country’s diplomatic stance effectively and accurately. In addition to remaining in character and accurately representing their assigned Member State, delegates must research and propose policy solutions that will garner the consensus of the international community, which is the goal of the in-person conference and the subject of resolutions.
Later this week eight members of Baylor’s Model UN team will travel to Kobe Japan to participate in NMUN-Japan, departing November 18 and returning November 28. This extraordinary trip, which is Baylor MUN’s second international conference in the team’s history, is made possible through the generous support of the Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Science, Center for Global Engagement, Baylor School of Business Dean’s Office, Baylor Business Fellows Program, Baylor Department of Economics, Baylor Program in International Studies, and the McBride Center for International Business.
The team is also currently preparing for the TexMUN conference to be held in February 2023 in Austin, Texas, where six to eight delegates will represent Kenya, Poland, and the United States, as well as the NMUN-NY conference in April, where a sixteen-member team will represent Poland. Earlier this semester thirty members of the class and club participated in the UNHCR’s MUN Refugee Challenge. Currently, the team is taking part in the UNHCR’s “Read for Action” Global Humanitarian Book Club, too. It has been a busy and fulfilling year for our team, and we’re not yet to the half-way point!
