It was regarded as both successful and memorable by its participants. However, the online Model United Nations (MUN) Pre-Conference held last November exclusively for the delegates of Southville Global Education Network (SGEN) was only just a prelude. With their newfound skills, delegates and chairs alike were only preparing for the main event.
128 delegates from Southville International School and Colleges (SISC), South Mansfield College (SMC), Stonyhurst Southville International School-Batangas (SSIS-B), Stonyhurst Southville International School-Malarayat (SSIS-M), and Asian SEED Academy of Technology (ASAT) have assembled yet again for the first-ever SGEN MUN Main Conference from February 20-21, 2021. For two days, rookie to veteran delegates drafted and debated their resolutions on global issues aligned with the COVID-19 pandemic simulating United Nations (UN) procedures.
Hosted not only by SISC's MUN Secretariat but also chairs from different SGEN schools, this historic network-exclusive event was done entirely online via Zoom call. A landmark first for Southville MUN since its conception, delegates debated against and alongside fellow SGEN schools.
SISC MUN Director-General Sir Jude Cuntapay states this SGEN MUN conference is more than just a platform, event, or project; it is a symbol of the camaraderie established by the students to share their globally-minded passions. He added, “It’s a manifestation of how SGEN students and delegates develop through time, and this is the best platform—the best time for them—to showcase what they’ve learned [last] November. They will be able to prove themselves that they can be an MUN delegate.”
Diplomacy is a long game
On Saturday morning of the first day, SGEN delegates flooded the Zoom plenary for the Opening Ceremony. International Baccalaureate Director Sir John Wraith and the Executive Director Ms. Deena Mansour of Maureen and Mike Mansfield Centre of the University of Montana headed the Welcoming Remarks encouraging delegates to hold fruitful debates and exemplify diplomatic behavior.
“Diplomacy is always a long game . . . but at the end of the day, we will all move our world forward in developing the approaches to challenges that we all face,” emphasizes Ms. Mansour in her keynote speech. SISC MUN Secretary-General Dong-Hyun ‘Diego’ Kim followed them, reminding delegates of what to anticipate in this online MUN event. With his virtual bang of the gavel, the Main Conference officially commenced.
All delegates were pre-assigned into five real-life United Nations committees. The Security Council (SC) and General Assembly Sixth Committee - Legal (GA6) made up the advanced level. The World Health Organization (WHO), Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and Human Rights Council (HRC) on the other hand were at the basic level. Each had their own breakout room throughout the video call for delegates to convene in.
Despite the technical difficulties from a virtual event of this size, Deputy Secretary-General David Ramos looked beyond these mishaps and was thankful for this conference to push through digitally. He says, “The whole online setting was a really big blessing because it allowed all of our SGEN schools to be connected through Zoom and be able to participate. We are more able to communicate with one another.”
Leap of faith
Secretary-General Kim mentions that sharing the knowledge of MUN to Southville’s sister schools was one of the main focuses of this conference whose theme was, “Connecting the world, one delegate at a time.” As this event was completely organized by the student chairs, Sir Jude saw this action as a huge step forward. He claims, “I never thought and I never planned, being an MUN Director, that one day our Southville students will have their own [conference]. Throughout time, we proved we can organize it, so [it was] a leap of faith [allowing] the . . . delegates to handle the event itself.”
The first session was for resolution writing. Here, delegates openly conversed with one another, forming groups and drafting the best solutions to current worldwide problems as representatives of their assigned countries. Their research was critical at this stage, says SC delegate of the United Kingdom Jaeda Johnson. “I researched a lot on the topics for my committee and the stance of my own country. Plus I . . . made clauses with some of my fellow delegates.”
The debates happened in the next three sessions that day and Sunday morning. Parliamentary procedure was in order—the completed resolutions were discussed in sessions that were over an hour-long each. Following the initial readings, the main submitters unmuted their mics, approached the digital podium, and spoke out to the rest of the conference hall encouraging everyone to dissect and discuss their proposals.
The speeches followed; some were made to support while others pointed out the flaws. The reactions toward them are mixed. Points of Information (POIs) flew towards the speakers that counter their arguments. The room got hotter with each second passed. Amendments to improve the resolutions were submitted to the chairs. Responses became limited due to time constraints. Speeches were made, POIs were raised, and the conversation kept rolling and rolling throughout the five committees. All of this happened while the chairs—some of whom delighted with how the delegates were performing—were facilitating who speaks next, what direction to take, and so on. WHO Chair Tyrulf Ekberg remarks, “It's just really exciting and [it was fulfilling] to see that they know what they are doing and they know how to handle themselves.”
SC Chair Hyuk-Jin "Richard" Park took note of how active these students were compared to the first session. He says, “I’ve seen improvements, actually. Specifically [in] the younger batches because I didn’t [think] that they would be this outspoken. Their mannerism got better, their context got better, the way they researched got better, and the way they [asked] questions got better."
Though there were a noticeable number of silent participants during the debates afraid of unmuting their mics and speaking out to the rest of the room, some eventually built their courage for speaking as the sessions dragged on. ECOSOC delegate of Libya Seorin Park from SISC shares her experience, saying, “I was scared at first . . . but throughout the debate, I felt joy exchanging ideas with the other SGEN delegates.”
GA6 delegate of Mexico Nathaniel Arellano points at another issue others may have faced. “One of the challenges I faced was keeping the debate going because some of the [delegates] are facing internet issues—not being able to hear clearly—or personal matters [during the sessions].”
These struggles aside, the appreciation for the many people behind the debate still stands. HRC Chair Cuit Cerbito mentions that her delegates’ willingness to overcome nervousness and improve their speaking made her feel proud. On the other side of the table, delegates praised the proactiveness of their chairs. GA6 delegate of Chile Pia Margaret Ozaeta from SSIS-M says, “Our wonderful and talented chairs have been encouraging, cool, and diplomatic! They have helped us delegates by encouraging us to really participate, give all the speeches we could give, and ask away POIs.”
Resolution after resolution. Clause after clause. Debates that passed resolutions and debates that were less successful. Once all papers were discussed, the zany crisis plenary arrived; a fun, humorous, yet systematic session that made delegates find solutions to bizarre, unserious matters. Well-known memes and near-nonsensical talks were thrown across the room to destress after a weekend of serious speeches.
Not the last
All participants arrived at the main plenary as the Closing Ceremony happened Sunday afternoon. They were greeted with messages from MUN alumni, SISC Basic Ed Principal Ms. Marie Vic ‘Avic’ Suarez, and all committee chairs. 18 awards were given by the end of this conference, and SISC bagged ten of them. After the awarding, Deputy Secretary-General Ramos gave his poignant final message, and with another virtual bang of the gavel, the conference officially ended.
It was a long and memorable weekend for SGEN MUN. Many are hopeful, however, that this is only the start of a new chapter. Delegates wish to keep in touch with their newly-acquainted friends long after this conference. The organizers desire for there to be more events like this.
“We hope this wouldn’t be the last [SGEN MUN] conference, and we hope there would be future conferences to help each other especially since we’re sister schools,” says Secretary-General Kim. He added, “We do not simply want this SGEN MUN to be just a step foot forward. We want this to flourish so that other SGEN schools can flourish and so that the MUN community can become more diverse.”
Some several senior chairs and delegates had this as their final conference. Emotions are high as even though the digital setup paved for a lot of missed opportunities, they’re still happy being able to end it with SGEN. Deputy Secretary-General Ramos says, "The one thing that I really wanted to do [as a senior] is to try to leave a mark and make a difference not just in SISC but the whole SGEN community, and I think that with the help of everyone here present, SGEN MUN became something [that will hopefully happen] many years down the line.”
Meanwhile, HRC Chair Cerbito explains, "I feel like I need to make the most out of it. I feel like it's all culminating at this moment . . . it's this moment where we get to pass down all of our experiences."
Satisfied with all that had elapsed on those two days, Sir Jude goes on to say, “Seeing it, in reality, makes an MUN Director like me feel that fulfillment that finally . . . something we’ve just been planning before is actually [coming to] fruition."
The MUN Club is continually looking for new delegates to join the community. The group meets every Thursday from 5:00-6:30 PM. For Inquiries, contact siscmun@southville.edu.ph or Sir Jude Cuntapay via email at jude_cuntapay@southville.edu.ph.
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