Guest Speaker
Mr. Rémi Nono Womdim
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Viet Nam
Rémi Nono Womdim is the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Viet Nam. He previously served as Deputy Director of FAO Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) in Rome, Italy from 2018-2021 and was also the Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention-FAO. In this position, he supported NSP Director in providing strategic, managerial and technical leadership for the work of the Division in the area of sustainable crop production intensification and diversification. Prior to his assignment at NSP, he was FAO Representative in Cabo Verde (2014-2018), Programme Specialist (Seed Sector Development) and Agricultural Officer (Horticulture/vegetable Crops) at NSP in Rome (2009-2014).
Among his many achievements, Nono Womdim has contributed to the establishment of various multi stakeholder platforms, provided advice to and guided the formulation of national policies and strategies for the development of the seed sector and the horticulture sector in FAO Member Nations in Africa, Caribbean, Asia and Near East. He represented FAO in the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) and advocated for smallholder farmers access to quality seeds of improved rice varieties.
Prior to joining FAO in 2009, Nono Womdim was Programme Research Manager and Liaison Officer at the World Vegetable Center in Arusha-Tanzania (2007-2009); Director of Research and Development of Technisem-Tropicasem Group in Savigny-sur-Orge, France, and in Dakar, Senegal (2001-2007); Vegetable Specialist/Plant Pathologist at the World Vegetable Center in Arusha-Tanzania (1994-2001). He started his career in 1988 as Research Associate in the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), meanwhile working as Lecturer at the University of Avignon and Pays du Vaucluse, in Avignon, France. He has been invited Professor of Plant Pathology/Breeding at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, The Philippines and at Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique (ENSA) of Thiès, Senegal.
Nono Womdim has specific strengths in fostering action-oriented and productive partnerships, providing leadership and strategic guidance on managing multilateral programmes and multicultural teams for agriculture and rural development. He is also internationally known for his work on breeding vegetable crops for disease resistance and ensuring that smallholder farmers have access to quality seeds of improved varieties. He has authored or co-authored several scientific papers, book chapters, conference papers and proceedings. He served as Associate Editor of Fruits, The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture, a leading scientific journal, published by the International Society for Horticultural Science.
Nono Womdim holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Life Sciences (Plant Pathology) from Paris-Sud (Paris XI) University, France, having previously gained a BSc in Organisms and Populations Biology from University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris VI), France and MSc in Plant Pathology from Paris-Sud (Paris XI) University.
Chair Mentor
Dr. Leppard
The first mentor we met with for our council was Dr. Leppard, the Secondary Principal for UNIS Hanoi. This year is his 25th year as an educator and his 4th year at UNIS. His interest in education originally stemmed from a love of books as well as a love of people, which led him to his path of education where he could find both of those things. In terms of MUN experience, Dr. Leppard recalled back many years ago where he participated in MUN in highschool and was also a coach for MUN in another country. He loved the fact that people could bring an understanding with people all over the world and learn about other places that can be easily overlooked.
When we asked Dr. Leppard about the theme for this conference: “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?”, he answered that what the world needs right now is to build a common understanding with one another instead of focussing on the limited scope of our differences. “I think the theme sums up the goal of the UN in many ways, and what we really need is to keep working on building a common understanding with each other.” He also mentioned that the most important thing in order to overcome the challenges was to keep trying and to not give up. “We keep trying. We do see the UN run into roadblocks and challenges, and that really circles back to the idea of perspective, and not giving up.”
It was very interesting to see his view as a Secondary Principal on how the world could cooperate to overcome the rapid challenges that we face today.
During our interview, something truly inspiring that Dr. Leppard said was the importance of equitability. When we asked him about his thoughts on the topics of our council, he highlighted the importance of equitable access for people around the world, where every human, regardless of their birthplace or region, should have equal access to things, such as access to education. “Humans, no matter where they are born, no matter the geographic accident of their place of birth, or the type of passport they hold, should have equal access to the same things as people in other parts of the world have.” This really resonates with the topics for the UNMC, as equitability is a key issue to consider when looking at the various conflicts that are occuring in the regions to be debated on. To solve these issues as well as to inspire other people into doing so, Dr. Leppard said that we could raise awareness and help young people into seeing concrete things they could do to help at a local scale. “I think people really want to make a difference, and so if you can help them give options and ways to make a difference on any scale, I think that helps people want to get involved.” Our interview with Dr. Leppard really opened our perspective in building a common understanding and forming an equitable environment for everyone. It was a truly delightful experience meeting him. Thank you Dr. Leppard!
Chair Mentor
Mr. Piggott
The second mentor for the United Nations Membership Council was Mr. Piggott. He is a teacher currently teaching English in UNIS Hanoi. When we met him, we got to first get to know his experience in teaching. What got him interested in teaching was that he loved English in school and he also enjoyed his experience coaching sporting teams when he was in university. Combining different interests and experiences led him to his interest in teaching. He said, “a job that was both practical and intellectual sounded like a good idea at the time; so that’s what got me interested in teaching.”
During our discussion we asked him about what global, national, regional issues he was interested in. He mentioned two key issues: environmental issues and the way different cultures interact with each other. For the issue related to environments, he mentioned how his focus changed over the years. “Earlier in my life, I think I tried to care a lot about the bigger picture of environmental degradation. But more recently, I’ve been more focused on local action and local issues.” In Australia, he was involved in small community organizations that maintained the local environment and lobbied for local environmental issues. In Vietnam, he’s been more focused on taking action at a more household level like keeping bees and composting. When talking about the second issue related to how different cultures communicate, he said, “I am interested in the ways people from very different cultural backgrounds and experiences can see the similarities and commonalities in the experiences they have rather than focusing on the negativities and differences. Teaching in the environment that we have at our school allows me to see that play out.”
What was truly unique about our conversation with him was that he really got us thinking about the theme of the conference. The theme of the UNISMUN 2024 March conference is “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?” The theme of the conference exists to guide all members of UNISMUN and pose a debatable question that is relevant in all committees. When we introduced this theme to Mr. Piggott, he got us thinking very deeply about what exactly it could mean for the delegates of UNMC. We dissected the different terminology used in the theme such as “multilateral diplomacy” and “societal change” and pondered about what they could really mean. Then we used them in our discussions about its context within our world and more specifically in our committee. We believe that this discussion truly enriched our understanding not only of our own council but also of the entire March conference as a whole. Because of this enlightening conversation, we now want to push and emphasize the theme more to our delegates. Thank you Mr. Piggott!
Head Chair
Beomjoon (BJ) Park
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Greetings honorable delegates, fellow chairs and most esteemed guests,
My name is Beomjoon (BJ) Park and I am currently a sophomore at UNIS. I am honored to be the head chair for the United Nations Membership Council (UNMC) at the UNISMUN March 2024 conference.
The theme of the March conference is “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?” This theme is relevant because society should adapt and improve as changes in our society are inevitable. Discussing how various nations can use diplomacy to collaborate and combat the challenges are very important.
UNMC is a non-official UN council where different regions in the world attempt to convince member states to be recognized as a proper state from the UN. The four regions UNMC will be discussing this conference are Katanga, Kosovo, Rojava and Korea.
Katanga is a province located in the southeast part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The state of Katanga announced its independence in 1960 but it was dissolved by United Nations Operation in the Congo in 1963.
Kosovo is located south of Serbia and was an autonomous province of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.
Rojava is the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The Syrian government continues to govern parts of Rojava.
The topic about the membership of Korea is interesting because the delegate must take into consideration the ideas and intentions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea as well as a delegation representing the perspectives of a ‘unified Korea’. Fascinating!
UNMC delegates will provide insights on why the four regions should/shouldn’t be part of the UN. I wish all delegates to enjoy this process and hope that it helps them think more about multilateral interaction between different countries and regions.
Deputy Chair
Thu Tran
Fellow chairs, honorable delegates, esteemed directors, and distinguished guests,
I am Thu Tran, and I will be the deputy chair for the United Nations Membership Council (UNMC) at the upcoming UNISMUN March 2024. This will be my second time chairing out of my 3 years of MUN experience.
This conference’s theme addresses the question of how multilateral diplomacy can be used to “surmount the challenges of rapid societal change.” Humankind is forever growing and developing, and different paths of development may clash–to which delegates can explore the extent of how diplomatic communications can overcome these crossed paths. Delegates will be able to experiment with this through diplomatic debates and explore these societal changes through discussion and research.
UNMC is not an official body of the UN, but exists in MUN conferences to condensate the membership process from an approval process including both the Security Council and General Assembly to just a singular council–the UN Membership Council.
During UNISMUN March 2024, UNMC will discuss the memberships of Katanga, Kosovo, Rojava, and Korea.
Katanga is a region located in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During the independence of the DRC, Katanga made steps to separate but was reincorporated back into the DRC. As of currently, the area of Katanga has been divided up into various provinces.
Kosovo is a region to the south of Serbia. Self-acclaimed as the independent Republic of Kosovo, this state is currently in dispute over its autonomy with Serbia, which views Kosovo as an autonomous region under its governance.
Rojava, or the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), is a state that emerged amidst the Syrian Civil war and is located in the north and east of Syria. The ongoing Rojava Conflict is part of the separatist movement to gain independence.
Korea refers to the peninsula located in East Asia, currently encompassing two states known as South Korea and North Korea. The Korean War and significantly violent disputes following it can be acknowledged to have ended in 1954, but is officially on a long-standing armistice that leaves the question of uniting the Korean nation open.
During this conference, I hope for delegates to foster diplomatic and fruitful debate to elevate the caucuses to their highest formality as part of Model UN.
Procedural Chair
Sean Jang
My name is Sean Jang and I am a sophomore at UNIS Hanoi. This will mark my 5th MUN conference and first time as a chair.
The theme of this conference is “How can we use multilateral diplomacy to surmount the challenges of rapid societal change?” As our world continues to experience rapid change and development, multilateral diplomacy between nations becomes extremely important.
The UNMC is a special council in UNISMUN that processes the admissions of new members of the United Nations. In this council you will debate on the membership of four regions: Katanga, Kosovo, Rojava, and Korea.
Katanga is a region in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo that gained independence in 1960, but was later reintegrated back into Congo. It is currently in the center of a growing political tension in the DRC.
Kosovo is a small region located in the Balkan peninsula that gained independence from Serbia in 2008. Over 100 UN nations have recognized Kosovo as an independent state, but its conflict with Serbia continues to exacerbate in recent years.
Rojava is an autonomous region in the northern region of Syria that emerged from the 2011 Syrian civil war. Currently, no foreign states recognize Rojava as an independent country due to its deep conflicts with Syria and Turkey. To gain a general understanding of this topic, I highly recommend watching this concise and informative video.
The topic of Korea’s membership is a very unique one. In this topic you will have to debate on the membership of a special delegation named the ‘United Korea,’ which is a hypothetical country where the RoK and DPRK have undergone unification. You will have to craft your stance in favor or against the unification of Korea based on your country’s interests and policies. As a Korean myself, I am very excited to see how this topic will be debated on!
Good luck with your preparation, and I look forward to meeting you all during the conference!