By Laura Amez-Droz
On the 6th of November, bright and early, 20 students convened (with coffee) at the WTI in Bern. There they would spend the whole day as MUN delegates in the first MUN One Day Simulation of this semester. It was an exciting day, also for the MUN Board and the Chairs, because for the first time in a whole year we were able to hold the conference in person! Equipped with disinfectant, the Covid certificate and asks, the delegates were ready to discuss a very complex topic in an interesting ouncil:
-The Topic: “Upholding Human Rights in Correctional Facilities”
-The Council: “United Nations Human Rights Council”
After each delegation presented their priorities and some even already mentioned some very specific measures in the opening speech, they demonstrated their ability to think on their feet on the General Speaker’s List, referencing the previous speakers and already figuring out alliances without having talked one-on-one. Then their focus shifted towards single aspects of the topic in several moderated caucuses. Although the Chair did have to point out twice what would happen if the General Speaker’s List ran out, delegate spirits and participation remained high. Through some unexpected alliances two separate and already very well-structured working papers were drafted. Heavily influenced by the South American and African delegations the first group concentrated on the topic of funding, while the second group decided to take a broader approach and even include alternatives to imprisonment in their working paper.
After overwhelming the local pizzeria with an order of twelve different pizzas, the
majority of the conference dined royally while still discussing pressing MUN issues (not necessarily regarding Human Rights, but rather concerning anecdotes of social events at international conferences). Well fed, the two groups eventually realized they had more in common than they originally thought, so they merged their working papers and introduced the draft resolution. After a failed attempt of the catholic influenced states to strike a clause pertaining to HIV prevention in an amendment, the draft resolution passed
surprisingly unanimously.
We congratulate the delegates on the successful completion of their first MUN simulation. There were still some “I”s instead of “We”s, and some alliances and votes were a far reach in the respective foreign policy (yes, looking at you, China and India) but what would a first simulation be if not a learning opportunity!
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