Going into Harvard MUN, I expected the best of the best and one of the most intense conferences I’d ever be a part of. Of course, it had its ups and downs as well.
Contents
What’s an MUN?
Before I dive in and tell you all that happened in committee, I should probably explain to you what an MUN is and how it functions.
Background
MUN stands for Model United Nations. What this means is that MUNs attempt to function in the same way actual UN conferences do and have many rules and procedures to closely mimic the UN. Of course, completely mimicking the entire UN with all its committees and sub-committees would be difficult for the average MUN. They do have a director in charge of each committee, making sure that all rules are being followed.
To work around this, each conference will select a committee of the UN, such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) or the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), or in my case, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). Within each committee, an agenda is chosen. This is usually about a particular issue that the committee currently faces. For this conference, my agenda was “Online drug trafficking”. The agenda is usually made available well before the conference actually starts. However, the fun really starts when you’re assigned a country (in my case, Belgium).
During the MUN, you will either write or help write a resolution. In the real UN, resolutions are documents that will be implemented into real scenarios. This is reflected in MUNs as resolutions are scrutinised by other delegates very carefully.
Research
After this, you have to research your country quite extensively. I like to start by looking at the country’s list of allies, just to understand where my country sits in terms of power and influence. This usually takes some time as you have to evaluate which delegates you should lobby once
Once the groundwork of research has been laid, research becomes a lot more interesting. From here, your research begins to focus a lot more on the agenda. Using the example of online drug trafficking, I had to research where the drugs were being produced, how the darknet works and what Belgium has done to improve the situation. Most of this information is easily available somewhere on the internet in the form of articles but sometimes, it helps to read documents. Or more specifically, legislation.
It does sound boring on the surface, but reading the documents is critical to understanding your country’s stance on the agenda. It also helps you to understand what needs to be done and what problems need to be solved. The solutions you come up with now will be what you should push for in committee. For me, the EMCDDA was a great resource as it had all the information I needed. It also had a document suited perfectly for my agenda. Of course, all this research is useless if you don’t know when to say what.
Position Papers
A position paper is a document, usually only one or two pages long, that sums up your research. It’s also used to show your country’s stance on the agenda. Plus, it’s useful to refer back to during committee for solutions and statistics. In some MUNs, it is mandatory to submit one to be considered for an award; there may also be a separate award for a position paper.
MUN rules and procedure
Harvard MUN used the common set of rules that most conferences stick to, which makes it less intimidating as you don’t have to learn all these new rules. Before I explain how it all works, it helps to know some of the basics.
Points
Points are used pretty frequently in committee and there are four kinds (arranged in importance):
- Point of personal privilege
- Point of information
- Point of order
- Point of parliamentary inquiry
Points of personal privilege are usually used when you are physically uncomfortable. This could be the room being too cold or your chair is squeaking. This is also the only point that can interrupt a speech. When a point of personal privilege is used to interrupt, it’s usually because the delegate speaking is too quiet or can’t be heard properly. It can also be used after a speech to ask the delegate to repeat a specific line from the speech
A point of information is used after speeches made in the speaker’s list. It’s used to ask the delegate questions about their speech or to question their country’s stance on the agenda.
A point of order is used to point out a factual inaccuracy. For example, say a delegate claimed that the capital of the USA was New York. That’s a factual inaccuracy. However, it cannot be used to point out “incorrect” opinions.
A point of parliamentary inquiry is used to ask the director what’s going on. This could range from, what are we doing now, all the way to asking when we’re going to take a break for lunch.
Motions
Just like points, motions are pretty common throughout committee. They are used to vote on what should happen next. A motion passes if it has a majority of votes. There’s also a lot more of them:
- Motion for an unmoderated caucus
- Motion for a moderated caucus
- Motion to open debate
- Motion to open speaker’s list
- Motion to move into voting procedure
- Motion to divide the house
An unmoderated caucus (unmod for short) is where delegates can get up from their chairs and walk around, chat to delegates, whatever. Point is, it’s informal, but still very useful. During this time, you can talk to other members of your bloc (a group of countries allied together) about what to do next, or just chill (not a good idea). A motion for an unmoderated caucus requires you to set a duration; after time is up, you can motion to extend the unmoderated caucus by no more than half the original length. For example, if a 20 minute unmod just finished, I can motion to extend it by up to 10 minutes.
A moderated caucus is when delegates speak about a specific topic for a set duration of time and a set duration of time per speaker. What happens is that once the motion has passed, the director will ask which delegates want to speak, the delegates will raise their placard (small card with the country name on the front) and will be added into a queue of speakers. Each delegate can only make one speech. The delegate who proposed the motion must speak and can choose to speak either first or last. This is still formal debate, but you cannot use points of information. Again, you can motion to extend it by no more than half the original duration.
Motions to open debate are used at the very beginning of a session and move the session out of roll call into a debate.
Motions to open speaker’s list are used right after motions to open debate. The two are very ceremonial and delegates usually never vote against these motions. The speaker’s list has no cap on the total duration of time, but they have a limit on individual speaker’s time. The standard is usually 1 minute and 30 seconds, but this can be changed if it has a majority. Once a motion to open the speaker’s list passes, delegates raise their placards to be added to the queue of speakers. A delegate can speak more than once in the speaker’s list, but it’s polite to wait for another motion to pass before adding yourself again.
Motions to move into voting procedure are used at the very end of the conference, usually in the last session of the last day of the MUN. What they do is allow each bloc to present their resolutions to the committee. Once all of them have been presented, this motion is used to vote on which resolution to pass. Sometimes no resolutions will.
A motion to divide the house is used when there has been a vote on a resolution, but it is tied and some delegates have abstained. For example, if both resolutions have the same number of votes for and against, but 3 delegates abstained, a motion to divide the house forces them to vote.
Resolutions
A resolution is where all the work that’s been done by committee is shown. It is the document that (is meant to) answer all questions about the agenda and provide a way forward. In the real world, resolutions have serious implications as they effectively guide countries on what actions to take. Fortunately, this is just
Each resolution is split into a few main parts:
- Sponsors
- Signatories
- Preambulatory clauses
- Operative clauses
The sponsors are the delegates who were the authors of the resolution. Signatories are countries who either support the resolution or those who do not necessarily agree but would like to see it debated.
Preambulatory clauses set the groundwork for the resolution. They can include facts or general knowledge about the topic. More often, they are used to refere to other documents, either by the UN or by another international organisation. Preambulatory clauses must start with specific phrases and end with a comma.
Operative clauses effectively state the solutions proposed by the resolution sponsors. It helps if they directly address the perambulatory clauses above them. In addition, there can be sub-clauses to help specify exactly what actions should be taken. In general, the more detailed the operative clause, the better. There’s a list of preambulatory and operative clauses here.
If a delegate does not agree with a specific clause, they can motion to amend it. If the motion passes, the proposed change will be made to the resolution.
Procedure
To explain this format, I’ll go through the conference sequentially
After roll call, the director will announce that they are looking for a motion to open debate, which is usually unanimous. This is followed by a motion to open the speaker’s list, which also usually passes unanimously. After a few speeches have been made, the director will ask if there are any motions for the floor. This is when the committee branches off to either a moderated or unmoderated caucus. Once those are finished, they usually loop back to the speaker’s list.
This pattern continues throughout the conference until a resolution is ready to be presented. In this case, the resolutions will be presented and debated. This is followed by a motion to move into
What happened at Harvard MUN
This MUN was originally planned to have been hosted in Dubai, but due to the global pandemic, an online conference was planned instead. A few weeks before the actual conference dates, we had an introduction webinar where our director introduced himself along with his assistant directors. There was some explaining of what the CND was intended to do but the most important aspect of the webinar was the chat. I was very interested in staying in touch with other delegates before the committee started to get to know them and the other delegates had similar intentions.
There were many suggestions about how to create a group. Some delegates were suggesting an Instagram group, but other delegates didn’t have an account. Others suggested Whatsapp, which was banned in the Middle East. I suggested creating a Hangouts group, which they all reluctantly agreed to, and asked them for their emails. A flood of emails, around 25 or 30, poured into the chat to the extent that the moderators disabled the chat to stop the spamming.
Moving ahead to the opening ceremony, it was run of the mill stuff: speech by the organisers about how excited they were, mentioning the conference’s partners, etc. The ceremony was scheduled for an hour, followed immediately by our first committee session. However, it only lasted for half an hour, which threw us into chaos and we eventually ended up calling each other to chill for a while.
Committee Session 1
It took a while for all the delegates to join the session as the moderators had to check that we were registered and allowed to take part in the session, but after that, it went quite smoothly. Our director, Raphael, reintroduced himself and his assistant directors (not all delegates attended the introduction webinar) and we had a minute’s silence for the events that were happening around the world.
As is standard, we first had a roll call (I answered “present and voting”) after which the directors announced they were looking a for a motion to open debate. I raised my placard and hoped that I would get to speak, but the delegate of Ecuador was chosen instead. I did not get to open the speaker’s list or make the first speech either. I had to settle for the second round of the speaker’s list before I could make my speech.
“Last year, record volumes of illicit drugs were seized resulting in the highest amount of retail cocaine in Europe for the past decade. As a result, the number of patients with cocaine-related issues has skyrocketed according to the EMCDDA. This will only be worsened by the increasing availability of drugs via darknet marketplaces. These marketplaces are not easy to take down. Significant effort is needed to merely find which jurisdiction the server is in. This is a result of high levels of encryption, bitcoin tumbling, and the nature of the darknet itself. Even once the server is found, action is delayed as a result of excessive bureaucracy. This needs to be solved. We need to create frameworks that allow for action to be swiftly and securely coordinated. A solution to this would be to have a dedicated darknet taskforce that is licensed to act internationally. Belgium calls upon countries with significant technical expertise to provide their support. The delegate yields to questions”
My speech was similar to the others, in the sense that I was stating my country’s views on the issue and how it had been affected. But my speech stood out, not because it was particularly moving, but because I was the first delegate to yield my time to questions. The director confirmed that I was allowed to do that and mentioned that it was a perfect example of how to yield.
The session didn’t last for much longer: there was a motion to discuss the uses of the darknet for 10 minutes, which was then extended before our designated time ended.
Committee Session 2
In the second session, it started to get interesting. I raised a motion to discuss the cause and effect of drug trafficking for 15 minutes (this was predecided before the committee by the majority of the delegates) which passed. I then made the first speech and stepped back into the background for a while. My moderated caucus topic was very popular, to the extent that another delegate motioned to extend it (also passed), however, that wasn’t the highlight of the session.
Previously, I had been part of a large bloc – close to half the committee – but I was approached by the delegate of Germany to join a second, smaller bloc made of EU countries. I figured that this was a good move and accepted the invitation. The timing of the invitation was crucial as the next day, we had a session dedicated to creating working papers, informal documents which showed your bloc’s ideas. To be honest, I didn’t know working papers were a thing until I joined this MUN.
Committee Session 3
The first writing session was productive, we managed to capture our plans and ideas for a resolution well within the allocated time. During the main session, all the working papers were presented and would be emailed to us soon after the session ended. One thing I didn’t expect was that some working papers were effectively draft resolutions, they were formatted as such, they were very formal, they were long. The EU bloc had the shortest working paper, only two pages.
Committee Session 4
At this point, the EU bloc had offers to merge with other, larger blocs and asked my bloc to have a call to discuss this. I felt that this was a good idea as we’d have the numbers to effectively pass a resolution, however some in the bloc felt that they’d be unable to contribute if they were in a larger team. I eventually agreed to not merging and we stayed on the call to finish writing our draft resolution. We worked for around an hour before taking a break as committee would start soon.
Just like yesterday, we had time allotted to writing. This, combined with the call from earlier, allowed us to finish our draft resolution a lot earlier than the other blocs. In fact, during an unmoderated caucus, the assistant director supervising us mentioned that the other directors were jealous as the other blocs were working. As for us? We just relaxed for 15 minutes. Then it got hectic.
You know the massive bloc I was part of in the beginning? They motioned to present their draft resolution. They presented, answered questions and amendments were made. Then, they motioned to move into voting procedure. This meant that they could pass their resolution now, with an entire day of committee left. Everyone in the EU bloc was panicking, after all, there are five days of committee for a reason. Fortunately for us, we ran out of time before a vote could be taken. We dodged a bullet.
Committee Session 5
For the last day of Harvard MUN, there was a lot to do. There were another two draft resolutions to present, which both had to be amended and then debated and then voted upon. My bloc managed to present our draft resolution first, giving us the advantage of time. After the Q&A, we opened the floor for speeches, either for or against the draft resolution. Unfortunately, I did not get to speak and I felt that I would have been able to defend the resolution strongly. This was followed by a motion to vote on the draft resolution. Unfortunately, my draft resolution failed.
We only had 15 minutes left for the last draft resolution to be presented. This didn’t leave enough time for a presentation and amendments, so the committee moved into an unmoderated caucus for 10 minutes so that delegates could informally discuss whether to pass the resolution or not. This resolution also failed.
The entire MUN conference wrapped up with a speech by the organisers and an awards ceremony. I didn’t win an award, but I feel that I know what to do in the next MUN to be a better delegate.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’d recommend that everyone take part in at least 1 MUN, it’s a challenging event that helps you better yourself in so many ways. As for HMUN in particular, it felt more chaotic than a normal MUN would have, probably because it was held online. In most conferences, you don’t have the luxury of being able to communicate instantly with all your bloc members or collaborate so easily on a resolution. For some, these might be reasons to participate in an online MUN, but I feel that these take away integral parts of most MUNs: having to communicate with everyone in the best way.
To sum up in one sentence, I’d say that while I did enjoy Harvard MUN online, I recommend that we stick to offline MUNs whenever we can.