Guest Speaker
Nataliya Zhynkina
Embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam
Ms. Nataliya works for the Embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam. She is the Deputy Head of Mission and Political Counsellor, she also served as Charge d’Affaires of Ukraine in 2019-2022 pending arrival of the Ambassador in April 2022.
Ms. Nataliya first came to Hanoi in 2001 on students exchange program between the governments of Ukraine and Vietnam. Since then, she worked in multiple Vietnamese companies until in 2004 she with a group of enthusiast opened the Ukrainian restaurant Bud’mo in Tay Ho area. The Embassy of Ukraine became a regular customer of Bud’mo restaurant and finally invited Ms. Nataliya to fill in an interpreter position at the Embassy’s office. This is where her road to diplomacy started.
She returned to Kyiv in 2008 to take the position of attaché at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, where she monitored Ukraine’s membership in environmental conventions.
The post of Consular officer at the Embassy of Ukraine in Singapore became Ms. Nataliya’s next assignment in 2010. She spent almost 5 years working there and chose to stay for another one year to pursue her studies at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, which she thought would greatly upgrade her knowledge and proficiency as a civil servant.
Having graduated with the Master’s Degree in Public Administration in 2016, Ms. Nataliya went back to work at the headquarter in Kyiv, Ukraine, where she grew in rank as a diplomat and from where she returned to Hanoi in 2019 to head the same Embassy, which she left 11 years ago.
Ms. Nataliya has a good command of Vietnamese language as she traveled a lot and made many friends in Vietnam. So far, Vietnam takes the biggest part of her professional career. She witnessed how Hanoi changed from early 2000s to 2020s and she views Vietnam as her second motherland.
She misses her home back in Ukraine, as the city where she was born, Luhansk, has been under the Russian occupation since 2014 and she can’t go there.
Ms. Nataliya became Ukraine’s voice in Vietnam, she is the Embassy’s spokesperson and the contact person for the representatives of the Vietnamese society. She has been named as one of the 5 influential political figures in Vietnam in 2022.
Ms. Nataliya says that in most cases multilateral diplomacy serves as the unique tool for resolving the challenges that the world faces. At the end of the day there is just one planet that we have to share and as the world’s civilization develops, we become more and more efficient in our skill of living side by side.
Ms. Nataliya’s message to the delegates of the upcoming UNISMUN conference is to understand the importance of each one of them as members of society and to remember that one person can really make a difference. Yet we all need to never stop learning new things and try to understand the root causes of every problem that we try to solve in order to find the best solutions.
Chair Mentor
Mr. Sheblak
The mentor I met with was Mr. Sheblak, the Secondary School Deputy Principal. In terms of MUN experience, whilst he does not have firsthand experience with it, he keeps up to date with various issues and news worldwide.
When asked about our theme “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?”, he answered that our current world, including our UNIS community, needs to build a better awareness of coming issues. Not only are there political changes, but there are also recent developments in AI technology such as Chat-GPT.
For the 1st topic, The issue of regulating non-traditional security threats, he told us about how as our world continues to face many wars and conflicts the threat levels are also increasing rapidly which is already seen not only through AI but other forms of technology. He commented that “Multilateral Diplomacy” is needed now, more than ever.
Moving on, we asked 2 of our topics for the Security Council: The Issue of the Responsibility to Protect for Sudan and The issue of the relationship of Israel and Palestine. Mr. Sheblak mentioned that he is aware of these issues and said these conflicts are prevalent and significant. He spoke about how issues currently happening are more connected with the theme, of ‘rapid societal change’. When discussing further questions related to the theme, Mr. Sheblak has signified the importance of understanding different values and lenses of the conflicts.
Thank you, Mr. Sheblak for your time and support to support the Security Council!
Head Chair
Hyungmin Nelson
Fellow chairs, esteemed delegates, distinguished directors, and honorable guests,
My name is Hyungmin Nelson, a junior from Seoul Foreign School, and I will serve as the Head Chair for the Security Council.
I have been a part of UNISMUN since November 2019 as a nervous freshman, and this will be my last high school Conference as a senior.
This will be my second year participating in UNISMUN and my first as a chair. I am excited to participate in this fantastic conference again after my time as a nervous sophomore and now as a junior.
Our conference’s theme is, “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?” As our world changes at a rapid pace, with societies ever-growing, we face more and more challenges that grow in difficulty on a daily basis. Multilateral diplomacy is a possible solution to facilitating such change, and in order to ensure that the full potential of such diplomacy is utilized, we must work towards solutions.
The Security Council has historically ensured international peace and security. With its power to make binding decisions and position as one of the six principal bodies of the United Nations, the Security Council plays a crucial role in modern diplomacy. I look forward to seeing such diplomacy in person, especially considering that, although small, Security Council sessions are often some of the most adept and professional.
The three topics discussed in the Security Council are “The issue of the relationship of Israel and Palestine,” “The Issue of the Responsibility to Protect Sudan”, and “The issue of regulating non-traditional security threats.” Such issues are first and foremost relevant to the context of our conference’s theme and, significantly, relevant to the issues we all face today.
However, I believe everyone will have the opportunity to find solutions to these complex issues, and I look forward to fruitful debate and deliberation. See you in March!
Deputy Chair
Nguyen Manh Hai Nguyen
I am Hai Nguyen, a junior at Concordia International School Hanoi. This UNISMUN March Conference will mark my 7th MUN conference and 2nd as a chair, of which I have the honour of being the deputy chair for this conference’s Security Council.
Global tensions and conflicts are at the highest levels seen in decades, and national interest appears to be taking precedence over international peace. The Cold War-era global US-Russia superpower dynamic is being uprooted by other countries on the rise. This conference’s theme, “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?”, perfectly ties into this current global geopolitical shift. Humanity must communicate and cooperate in these trying times, lest we repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.
The Security Council is what I’d like to call the “Crown Jewel of the UN”, the “Lebron James of international diplomacy”. It is a large part of why the UN succeeded and its predecessor, the League of Nations, did not. It features an elite crew of the 5 nations with the largest nuclear stockpiles, each reserving the right to shut down any proposed resolutions. Its resolutions are legally binding. It fields an army of soldiers from all corners of the world. When there is an urgent global crisis, it is the Security Council that has the ultimate authority to act. Safe to say, the decisions you make in this committee will leave the largest mark on history than any other UN body.
The three topics of this year’s UNSC cover three different but equally important and intricate aspects of modern global security: direct military conflicts, the global response to conflicts, and other non-military threats, all reflected in the topics of “The issue of the relationship of Israel and Palestine”, “The Issue of the Responsibility to Protect for Sudan”, and “The issue of regulating non-traditional security threats”.
I look forward to seeing all of you at the conference, where you have the opportunity to present your creative ideas, engage in fructiferous discussions, and hopefully reach comprehensive solutions.
Procedural Chair
Donghan Kim
Greetings esteemed delegates, chairs, and directors,
My name is Donghan Kim, a junior at the United Nations International School in Hanoi, and I am very honored to serve as the Procedural Chair of the Security Council for the upcoming March 2024 conference. This will be my 3rd time serving as chair, and 7th conference.
The theme of this year's conference, “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?” signifies the urgency and complexity of the global issues we face. The Security Council decides whether an act of aggression or a threat to the peace exists, along with the responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
In this conference, we aim to provide a debate in which your voices can be heard, ideas can be exchanged, and alliances can be formed on the following 3 issues “The issue of regulating non-traditional security threats”, “The Issue of the Responsibility to Protect for Sudan”, “The issue of the relationship of Israel and Palestine”.
These issues we face today, ranging from wars, threats, necessitate a critical evaluation from the Security council reflecting modern global security. The Security Council, in particular, is open for discussing and proposing necessary changes addressing these issues.
With all said, I am grateful for having an opportunity to attend the March 2024 MUN conference as your procedural chair and will be looking forward to seeing fruitful debates, and creating a memorable experience for all.