May
Success for our Model United Nations Society at EuroMUN
The Southampton Model United Nations Society (SotonMUN) recently attended the four day European Model United Nations Conference (EuroMUN) held in Maastricht, The Netherlands. SotonMUN’s head delegate, Nathaniel McVeagh, was awarded Best Delegate Award in the World Health Organisation committee!
EuroMUN is the largest and most prestigious MUN conference in Continental Europe, with 500 delegates taking part in over 13 simulated committees. SotonMUN funded four of their members to attend (Nathaniel McVeagh, Fleur Elizabeth Walsh, Sebastian Vogg and Kaeko Ishikawa) and represent Southampton in four committees: World Health Organisation, United Nations Human Rights Committee, Economic and Social Council, and Crisis Committee.
Nathaniel McVeagh received the Best Delegate Award in the World Health Organisation committee, which is the highest achievement you can receive in Model United Nations. This is a fantastic achievement, especially as this only the second time he has taken part! Nathaniel says: “I got involved with SotonMUN in my third year after I realised I really wanted to do something extra-curricular which was directly related to my degree! I study International Relations and model UN was perfect to meet like-minded people who also loved international politics.
My committee at EuroMUN was the World Health Organization and I was given Ethiopia to represent. I was in two minds about this to begin with but I believed I could use it to my advantage and I went into the committee with the plan of creating a ‘bloc’ of developing countries to work with. Over the weekend I worked hard to build alliances with committee members who were also representing African countries, and I led this block from the front.
I think this gave me an advantage towards winning the award as the chairs look for good diplomacy amongst the delegates, and I was thrilled when my name was called out! It was great to have won the award and I would love to see SotonMUN grow as a society so we can bring back more awards in the future!”
SotonMUN member, Fleur Elizabeth Walsh, tells us more about what’s involved with Model United Nations:
“The Southampton Model United Nations Society is dedicated to those who enjoy discussing all aspects of politics and international relations. As a society, we help train students to be able to participate in Model United Nations conferences across the world. Each week we discuss relevant topics, and practice rules of procedure, in order to prepare for the hundreds of conferences held across the world each year. Model United Nations is a fabulous hobby, that of course looks excellent on any CV, as it helps teach participants diplomacy, public speaking, presentation and research skills, team work, forward planning, and strategy”.
Huge congratulations to Nathaniel on winning his award, and well done to all the Southampton delegates for organising to take part in EuroMUN.
Find out more about our SotonMUN society here: Southampton Model United Nations
Tags: #WellDoneWednesday, Best Delegate Award, EuroMUN, Model United Nations, Model United Nations Society, Nathaniel McVeagh, SotonMUN