BWYA Reporting: Student Delegates on Their Model United Nations Experience in Singapore

Beijing World Youth Academy (BWYA) sent twelve student delegates to Singapore to participate in the annual The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) on November 19-25. This conference brought together more than 1,500 students from major international schools across Asia.

The delegates from the school’s Model United Nations (MUN) Club represented France and India and joined in separate committees as members of the General Assemblies (GAs), the Human Right Council (HRC), and the Security Council at Hwa Chong Institution.

BWYA delegates representing France and India

Seven of the delegates were newcomers, while the returning students performed well in different activities such as drafting resolutions for specific issues or topics and making points of information (POIs) and speeches for or against any resolution whenever possible.

THIMUN 2017 was the first international conference in which Grade 10 students Spring Xia and Amanda Zhang double-entered at the Security Council. “Delegates in the Security Council are more aggressive than those in some of the general assemblies. It was tough,” Zhang said. “Their questions are trickier to answer; they will slam your draft resolution directly if your word choice in your speech is inaccurate. Also, the veto power is powerful yet detrimental.” Nevertheless, the delegates stood firmly to their resolutions and debated over the aspects that could have made their positions less dominant. Eventually, the clauses that they wrote all passed and the two delegates rejoiced over their “victory.”

BWYA delegates Spring Xia (standing, center) and Amanda Zhang (right) debating in Security Council with double delegation of France

BWYA delegates Esther Yang and Wendy Fan as double delegates of India at the Economic and Social Committee

At the second General Assembly (Economic and Financial Committee), which included 150 delegates, Penelope Zhang’s resolution was among the submissions that were thoroughly discussed. Although her resolution was not passed, Zhang said she looked forward to other prospects. “I was honored to see my draft resolution being debated for four hours in total over the course of two days. It tells me that my efforts had been recognized. I am sure that a little discouragement will become my force to become better next time,” she said.

Another BWYA delegate, Selina Zhao, said that the conference helped her improve her English communication skills. Prior to it, she used to sit quietly at her desk whenever debating a sample resolution during club sessions. “My English isn’t  perfect, but after THIMUN, I’m not afraid to speak and let my thoughts be heard. I was able to make POIs to other more experienced delegates and spoke more actively in club sessions.”

BWYA’s MUN directors Sophie Lauratet and Cosmina Lacsu and accompanying teacher Julia Zhu supported and encouraged the students over the week’s stay in Singapore.

Photos: Courtesy of Sophie Lauratet. Featured photo shows BWYA Delegates Brian Han and Tina Han.

This article is written by Cherry Yan and Penelope Zhang from Beijing World Youth Academy (BWYA).

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