Mr. Best
About a week after, I met with Mr. Best who is one of the MSHS I&S teachers and MYP Coordinator. Back in 2007 he worked as an MUN director for Türkiye before traveling to Ukraine to teach. Mr. Best has profound wisdom and such a deep understanding for global issues and helped open new perspectives about our council topics.
When asked about his opinion about our council topics, Mr. Best said that the topics are the "basic idea of perspective and the entailed sense of threat. If you think about everything as a story, which I think most things are, the narrative context of things is that who is the pro and who is the antagonist and what is the conflict resolution that comes lost". This deep understanding of the narrative structure that comes behind our council topics inspired Dat and I to rethink about the power structures and regional impacts of Bougainville and Tigray.
Mr. Best has a strong opinion about the UN when answering our conference theme as he stated that "I think the UN is a flawed institution that's not able to do a lot. Any group of large people can do it. The usefulness of the UN is not directly in terms of the action, it doesn't have that purpose, it should and it's stated to but it's not". This was a curveball of an answer to Dat and I as we weren't expecting Mr. Best to go against the UN's authority. However, when addressing sustainability through multilateral cooperation, it all came together as if you have countries as representatives of formal regions in the UN then they are a part of the larger discussion. There are also other ways to mediate conflict but there are also other structures in play such as legal structures and economic structures and organizations such as UNESCO. Once you become a UN member then other things come into play and then you have a series of forces and systems that you can speak to.
Our meeting ran out of time but Mr. Best agreed to stop by on Sunday to watch our council debate. We hope that he will be able to give out meaningful advice and guide our delegates to the path of sustainability!
Our Committee Mentors
Mrs. Louvet
We had the chance to meet with Jennifer Louvet, a deeply passionate High School English teacher at UNIS. Mrs.Louvet majored in journalism, publishing a few literary works, to finally start her career as a language teacher in China where she taught English as a second language. She has more than 20 years of experience as a teacher and has been at UNIS for a decade. It is needless to say that Ms.Louvet adoores Vietnam, her host country.
She originally comes from Florida in the United States, and one of the global issues that she is interested in is the situation of migrants who come from the Caribbean who sail the Atlantic ocean to reach US territory. Often those migrants are denied asylum and have to be deported or in the worst cases they perish during their journey. As a teacher Ms.Louvet informs her students of what is happening in the world, and tries to humanize the people who are living these situations, she does that by showcasing documentaries in class and allowing students to reflect and discuss the challenges that the stakeholders of this issue may face. She encourages the youth to be interested in global issues, as a mother she can witness that her daughter who is in grade 6 is engaged in the issue of the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights.
As a teacher she is on a daily basis confronted to speak in front of a large group of highschool students and she advises us chairs to be ourselves during the conference. We do not have to build a persona or build a hierarchy between chairs and delegates, kindness and friendship is key. However as leaders we should know how to restore order when needed while still respecting our delegates.
Head Chair
Minh Hoang
Honorable directors, distinguished delegates, and fellow chairs,
Greetings, my name is Minh. I am currently a junior in the United Nations International School of Hanoi and I will be serving as the Head chair for this year's November UNISMUN united Nations Membership Council. This conference marks my second year in the MUN community and my second year as a chair for UNIS MUN.
This year's theme, 'How do we ensure sustainability through multilateral cooperation?' encourages delegates to think about how we as a community can work to ensure all nations and regions are considered equal. Although the United Nations Membership Council is not recognized as an official UN body, considering the applications of prospective UN member states may be quite thought-provoking. Delegates should assess whether these regions require UN recognition and its implications.
The first question is about the membership of Bouganville, also know as the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, where delegates will have to consider the civil war that occured within the state and the conflicts between Bouganville and Papua New Guinea.
The second question is about the membership of Catalonia, where delegates will be tasked with discussing if the autonomous community of Spain “has a moral, cultural, economic and political right to self-determination” as Carles Puigdemont agrued.
The final question is about the membership of Tigray, where delegates will discuss about the independence of Tigray from Ethiopia after their civil war between the local the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).
It is crucial that there be long-term sustainable solutions to the aforementioned problems and the persisting inequalities in order to meet the conference's overarching theme.
I am most grateful for this opportunity to be chairing the upcoming November 2023 MUN conference. I look forward to engaging debates and discussions from all delegates at the next conference with the goal of favorable resolutions!
Deputy Chair
Anastasia Nono Womdim
Honorable directors, distinguished delegates, and fellow chairs,
Greetings. My name is Anastasia. I am a 11 grade student at the United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS). It is an honor for me to serve as the Deputy Chair for the United Nations Membership Council for the November 2023 UNISMUN conference.
This year’s theme ‘How do we ensure sustainability through multilateral cooperation?'. This theme urges delegates to reflect on how to make sustainable decisions that will positively affect different communities, promote human Rights, peace and while still allowing countries to keep their national sovereignty. Despite the fact that the United Nations Membership Council is not a formal United Nation body, the discussion of whether or not the autonomy of territories deserve a place in the United Nation remains a predominant concern that particularly fits this year's theme.
The three topics that will be debated upon during this November conference are the following: The question of the membership of Bougainville, the question of the membership of Catalonia and the question of the membership of Tigray.
Bougainville is an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, during the course of this debate delegates should consider the Civil War that opposed Bougainville and Papua New Guinea and 2019 referendum regarding Bougainville’s desire to gain independence from Papua New Guinea.
Catalonia is an autonomous community in the Kingdom of Spain, delegates should understand and debate upon the social and political separatist movement occuring within the Catalonian community.
Lastly Tigray is a region in Ethiopia, delegates shall tackle and debate upon the independence of Tigray from Ethiopia, acknowledging the civil war that opposed the local Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).
It is imperative that sustainable solutions should be addressed regarding the issues that will be debated upon during this conference. Solution that will put an end to inequalities and National conflicts.
I am eager to see this year’s delegates pursue fruitful and passionate debates with the aim of coming together with a successful resolution.
Procedural Chair
Dat Nguyen
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Honorable directors, distinguished delegates, fellow chairs and most esteemed guests,
My name is Dat Nguyen, I’m currently a junior in the United Nations International School of Hanoi and I’m serving as the Procedural Chair for the UNMC council in the 2023 November’s UNISMUN. This is my second year participating in the MUN and first year serving as a chair for UNISMUN.
This year’s theme ‘How do we ensure sustainability through multilateral cooperation?' fosters the collaboration between all countries and communities. This will lead to a fair and equitable sharing of benefits and the promotion of peace and human rights. Although the UNMC is not an official UN body, the debate of whether or not the autonomy of regions that deserve a place in the UN is still highly important
The three questions we will be discussing about are the membership of Bougainville, Catalonia and Tigray. These are existing issues that we are finding difficult to address due to long-standing conflicts between the countries. In order to meet the conference’s ultimate goal, long-term solutions to the aforementioned problems are required.
With that said, I'm looking forward to engaging and fruitful discussions from all delegates in order to produce the best possible resolutions.