The VIII Globeducate MUN took place from the 21 – 24 March 2023 in Nice. Host schools ISN Nice and Mougins British International School welcomed 192 students from 26 Globeducate schools around the world to the Opening Ceremony at the beautiful amphitheater of the Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen, on the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice.

Opening speeches were made by Madame Maty Diouf, Deputy Mayor of Nice, and responsible for the fight against discrimination, women's rights, international solidarity and humanitarian action, and Ms. Christiane Amiel, Delegate for International Relations and Partnerships. We would like to thank the city of Nice for their support of the event.

They were followed by ISN Director Mel Curtis focused on the potential to make connections during the event, reminding students to take the opportunity to network and make lifelong friends. Likewise, Mougins British International School Director James Wellings highlighted that students would leave the event more knowledgeable and accomplished, but also with more friends.

The final speech came from Sophie Vasilisin, Secretary General of the Conference and ISN Nice student: “Participating in previous MUNs, I have learnt so much about politics, but also about myself. I know we can break down barriers and create a more united and connected world, and I am confident we can empower ourselves and be the change we wish to see in the future.” And with that, Sophie tapped the gavel to officially open the VIII Globeducate MUN.

 

Day two moved to the Campus Sud Des Métiers, a new CCI (the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Campus that offers industry-related apprenticeships and training courses in a wide variety of fields. The remaining three days of the event took place at this location.

The delegates went straight to their working groups, which are as follows:

• The disarmament of the United Nations
• The G7
• Human Rights
• UN Economic and Social Policy
• UN Security

The committees all worked on their opening speeches, which enabled every country and member of a delegation to present their policy statements to their assembly. Sharing their positions on each issue that will be discussed per committee allowed other delegates to know who could be an ally and who will be opposing them when they vote at the time of the resolution. 

This was followed by lobbying time, where delegates aimed to find ally countries so they could sign resolutions and send them through the approval panel, made up of 22 coordinators. Once the resolutions were approved the students started debating the different clauses of the resolution.

On day three, one of the most symbolic MUN traditions, the announcement of an emergency global crisis, was launched. This year the theme was a cybersecurity breach, and delegates scrambled to pitch their responses, forming allyships yet also potentially alienating other nations along the way. A great exercise in fast-paced discussion and decision making.

That evening, students got to relax and enjoy the social aspect of MUN at the Mougins School campus, for a mixer event with snacks and music. 

 

Friday was the last day and the Closing Ceremony welcomed guest speakers Madame Maty Diouf, Deputy Mayor of Nice, Nick Beresford, UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia, and Madame Line Vissot-Weil, President of Globeducate France.

Mougins School students took charge of the ceremony and welcomed everyone and thanked them for their hard work over the last four days. Awards were then presented to the Best Delegate and Outstanding Delegate for each committee. The awards were given to the following students:

Security Council      

• Best delegate: Logan Daniels REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE Toronto Prep School
• Outstanding delegate: Pablo Sobreviela THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Agora Madrid

Human Right’s Committee

• Best delegate: Nicolas Navarro Lack CANADA from Cambridge House Community College
• Outstanding delegate: Oriol Bolta Martinez COLUMBIA from Agora International School Barcelona

DISEC

• Best delegate: Zigian Huang/THE RELUBLIC OF CUBA from ICS Paris
• Outstanding delegate: Davide Cernesson/DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA from ICS Paris

ECOSOC       

• Best delegate: Maria Voronina / IRAN from Mougins School
• Outstanding delegate: Aleen Asfour/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES from Mougins School

G7      

• Best delegate: Daniella Twekise/CANADA from Stonar School
• Outstanding delegate: Tejaasri Somasundaram Revathy/THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA from TIPS Public

Madame Diouf thanked the students for inviting her to both ceremonies, and expressed her pride in showing them the best that the city of Nice had to offer, and hoped they had enjoyed their stay. She then shared a famous African proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”, which is perfectly apt for an event such as MUN. She then added “I hope you will leave with hearts and minds filled with hope for the possibility of change for all peoples.”

 

Nick Beresford joined us virtually from Tbilisi, Georgia, to encourage the students to adopt sustainable lifestyles, and to use their voices and power to vote for parties that back climate change action.

Next, Line Vissot-Weil spoke about what the students could take back home with them after they left MUN. She highlighted how they could use diplomacy in their everyday interactions with others to develop empathy and international-mindedness, and added: “The more you seek to connect with other people, the more you invest in educating yourself about current global concerns, and the more you engage with causes that you believe in: such racial justice, women’s rights, climate change, disarmament, and many more, the more you will know yourself and the surer you will be of your future path.”

The final speeches came from students from Mougins School, who spoke about their experience over the last four days, highlighting the connections they had made, the knowledge they had gained, and the skills they had developed. All four students underlined how much they hope to participate next year, and they all highly recommended other Globeducate students around the world to join them.

Finally, Sophie Vasilisin, Secretary General of the Conference, finished by thanking the hard work of the coordination teams of both schools, students, directors, and staff, and tapped the gavel to end the ceremony.