The AMUN Chronicle

SG Welcomes All to the 28th AMUN Conference

by Kate Koett, Secretary-General

Welcome, one and all, to AMUN XXVIII. You have all worked hard to get here. Your clothes have been ironed. Your position papers have been drafted. You are packed to the brim with knowledge about the United Nations and its Member States. You have spent long hours researching your specific simulations. Your incredible work has brought you to this moment. Yet, outside the Conference the world moves on. We will take a moment and step away from the current events of the global community, the noise of the internet, and the 24-hour news cycle. Today, as representatives of your Member States, you will set the course of international discourse and shape solutions to the challenging problems the nations of our world face. Unencumbered by the bureaucracies and pitfalls of real world governments with national agendas, it will be your knowledge,preparation, and creativity that will shape your responses.

But we can’t ignore the state of the world at this moment—it has shaped the impending deliberations of your simulations. A UN Climate Conference has just wrapped up in Bonn, Germany, discussing the obvious need for action on climate change after a year of disastrous hurricanes, flooding and droughts. Despite optimistic signs of economic growth on the African continent, food shortages and conflicts in the Central African Republic, Mali and South Sudan, and an outbreak of the plague in Madagascar paint a troubling picture. In the Middle East, the Syrian conflict has been going on longer than World War II, and crisis-torn Yemen is in the midst of debilitating famine and a devastating cholera outbreak. In Asia, the refugee crisis in Bangladesh has become a one of the most harrowing in recent history with more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar. And as many nations still have sizable populations living in extreme poverty of less than $1.50 a day, the recent leak of the Paradise Papers tells us all that the wealth gap worldwide is getting worse, not better.

Over the next four days, you will take up the mantle of a diplomat and do your best to bring a fresh perspective to the problems facing our global community. Working together, you will attempt to build consensus and find common ground upon which you can move forward with other countries. Sometimes you will fail. Sometimes you will not be able to find immediate solutions. You will have to compromise, changing your approaches and solutions to find commonalities that bring Member States together.

These experiences will be educational. You will gain a better understanding of the plights of refugees. You will get insight into how developing nations try to build their national economies while striving to develop their infrastructures sustainably. You will encounter new perspectives on human rights, gender identity and sexual orientation. You will address nuclear security in the Middle East and beyond. Today, we all live in a community where even local conflicts or problems can reach the attention of an increasingly connected world.

As the representative of a Member State of the United Nations, you will get to decide if we are stronger united or if our nations must face challenges alone. You get to decide if the environmental concerns of today are problems we address together now, or if this is something we pass along to the next generation. You will get to advocate for or against displaced persons, who yearn for a peaceful home among strangers. You will be able to advance the goals of your nation but do not forget to listen to the mandate of your conscience. I wish you luck in your deliberations.

Many of the topics discussed at this conference are not new, and while some may continue to challenge the global community for some time, you, as diplomats today you may find new and inventive solutions to these topics. Finally, I hope you can walk away from this Conference with an increased appreciation for the very real challenges facing our leaders and diplomats. I hope that you become an advocate for positive change, trying—in your own way—to build a brighter tomorrow for us all. Use this Conference to learn from those around you, to listen to the concerns and solutions brought to you from other nations. I hope that you approach every discussion with a mind open to compromise and new ideas. Challenge yourself to learn and grow, even as you challenge those around you to do the same. I have every confidence that this is a challenge you can rise to. Good luck and have fun!