<aside> 💡 Model United Nations: a simulation of the United Nations

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MUN is an extracurricular activity in many schools and universities where students assume the roles of countries and organisations represented in the United Nations in specific committees and debate about issues concerning the world.

The United Nations was formed at the end of the Sec- ond World War. It was preceded by a similar organisation; known as the “League of Nations”. During the 1920s at the University of Harvard, students and teachers of International Relations and Politics courses created a simulation known as Model League of Nations, where students would represent the League of Nations and debate subjects like colonisation, war and empire debates.

After World War Two, once the United Nations was established, Harvard replaced the Model League of Nations with Model United Nations (MUN). Soon after, schools in New York began to follow that trend, and by the mid 1950s, all the Ivy League Universities in the United States held their own MUN Conference.

In the 1960s, MUN became popular in schools rather than just universities, and in 1968, a teacher at the American School of The Hague, Mr. Paul Sand founded “The Hague International Model United Nations” Conference (THIMUN). This conference began for four schools in The Hague, being the French School, The British School, The American School and the German School. By the mid 1980s, THIMUN became one of the largest and most popular conferences in the world; outside of the United States, and today it welcomes 4,500 students from all over the world to participate in structured UN styled debate in a variety of committees.

<aside> 📌 Fun Fact: As of SSIS, we are heading towards SUZMUN XII in 2024 - meaning that we’ve held our own conference for more than 11 years!

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