MUNIST Day 1: Outside Perspectives
After MUNIST 2025’s opening ceremony, delegates grouped together and headed to their committees - Security Council, UNHRC, UNICEF, ECOSOC, DISEC and WHO. Delegates, prepared with draft resolutions, dove into lobbying and co-signing each other’s resolutions for their first committee topics. Soon after, debating began; suggesting amendments to each other’s resolutions, making speeches both for and against each other, and ultimately aiming to achieve their assigned countries’ aims. Delegates debated a wide range of humanitarian and security-based topics such as technological interference in electoral processes, online privacy, and the legalisation of abortion for minors.
Teachers, both from IST and visiting, had a first-hand view of the very first edition of MUNIST. For some, it was their first time seeing an MUN in action. For others, it was a more familiar experience. But for all, it was the first time seeing MUNIST. ‘Impressed’, ‘Amazed’, and ‘Proud’ were a few of the words used by teachers to describe how they felt seeing MUNIST in action. Out of all the teachers interviewed by MUNIST Press, all agreed that it was impressively professional and extremely well-organised.
Teachers also agreed that MUN skills translate beyond the conferences. MUN brings people together over a common ground - the burning desire to solve global issues and a great hope, as well as concern for the future. Through these conferences, delegates learn things that they can’t in class; gaining experience as leaders, exploring new and creative solutions to real problems, and being able to connect with others in a professional manner. As education models shift more and more towards problem-solving instead of regurgitating knowledge, MUN skills translate more and more into class. Delegates will also discover their own strengths through MUN - whether it’s being vocal and debating, socializing with others, or running the conference behind the scenes.
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MUN stimulates a vast sense of hope, both in adults and adolescents, for the future generation of world leaders. Seeing the youth of today seriously engage in factful and informational conversations instead of being heavily influenced by the media is extremely encouraging to see, as these are global issues that currently affect each and every one of us. Delegates and teachers alike agree that there is a lower sense of hope in current governments that are continuously getting older. MUN is the start of the youth’s experience in understanding how to solve global and political issues, as well as raising an awareness in young people towards such issues. Teachers feel inspired in the future of politics, due to the consciousness and determination visible in the youth to better their world.
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​In terms of education and students’ future, teachers believe that global challenges have a substantial impact. Preparing students for future careers, teachers are aware that they may be preparing students for jobs that do not even exist yet. However, it is clear that a significant amount of jobs will be related to global challenges - such as in geopolitics, and climate change, as these are global problems, meaning they affect each and every country. Additionally, global challenges will affect students in their highschool and post-highschool stages of education, as government choices, often prioritising defence,
influence students’ choices on where they go to university. Even from a young age, students are influenced by the media that they see, and with the rise of AI, teachers agree that it’s crucial for students to be openminded and distinguish information from misinformation.
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Whilst students must absolutely focus their efforts on making changes to topics that they are passionate about, there are certain topics that stand out. As well as filtering information that is fed to them, many teachers believe that climate change is the main global issue that students should pay attention to. Population, resources, energy and many other issues cannot be fully contemplated until climate change is considered alongside them. Economists, for example, haven’t adjusted their mindsets to consider the impact of climate change - primarily taking into account supply and demand, they often classify ideas like soil, water, air and energy as externalities - but these ‘externalities’ won’t actually always be available. As well as re-looking at the economy, the increasing wealth disparity cannot be overlooked, as combined with increasing population, it prevents the globe from being able to progress as one, as it swells the divide between individuals and nations.
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Delegates will hopefully leave MUNIST 2025 with a sense of hope, and an increased ambition to achieve their goals in terms of future change, as well as having gained an increase in confidence, a sensation of empowerment, and the ability to make decisions based on factual evidence.
By: Andrew Long, Niharika Vadakoot
MUNIST Press​
Photographs by Andrés Exposito Ramos
MUNIST Media