INTERNATIONAL NORTH MODEL UNITED NATIONS
A project organised by students of Lycée International Montebello in Lille and Lycée Henri Wallon in Valenciennes,
With the support of the Région Nord Pas de Calais, Madame Corinne Delvallet and Monsieur Thierry Claisse, headteachers of the organising schools, the parents of the GPS IBL association, and Ms Imalous, Ms Kavanagh, Mr Ockenden and Mr Balcer, teachers.
Where does MUN, or Model United Nations come from ?
The objectives of MUN The concept
The Model United Nations has become a tradition in Schools, Universities and Institutes of Political Studies all around the world. This tradition saw the light of day at Harvard University in 1951, when the university organised an MUN for the first time. Other institutions followed suit, such as Sciences-Po Paris (Paris International Model United Nations), or the University of Beijing (Bejing University Model United Nations Conference). In recent years, MUNs have been created for secondary-level students.
Students take part in discussions where they represent a country, becoming delegates. Delegates must debate a variety of current issues, while defending the political interests of their country. Students debate as members of different United Nations committees such as the Security Council, or other committees created especially for the occasion. It is during those debates and negotiations that the students must find and suggest concrete solutions to current issues.
The debate topics are given them before the conference. Research reports on the topics to be debated are made available online so that students can do research in order to best prepare in advance of the conference and the debates.
Such events help students to gain a better understanding of the world and to discover diplomatic institutions. MUN conferences help them to become citizens capable of reflecting on real world crises. It is a real opportunity for students to meet each other and to gain a better understanding of the complexity of the world surrounding them while obliging them to adopt stance on current international affairs.
Such an initiate chimes with the Educational Project of the Nord Pas-de-Calais Region, one of the aims of which is to broaden young citizens’ minds and raise awareness of international affairs.
What is the INOMUN project ?
What INOMUN brings you
INOMUN is organised jointly by the International British Section students of Lycée International Montebello, Lille and Lycée Henri Wallon, Valenciennes both towns in the Nord-Pas-De-Calais Region, in northern France. Inspired by our participation at ILYMUN (International Lyon Model United Nations), as delegates, and with the help of our British section teachers, we created English debating clubs (MUN clubs) in our schools. In Montebello, a mini MUN conference of two hours was put in place in 2014 ; the students debated “The Ukrainian crisis”. Motivated to share this passion for debating with a larger number of students, including secondary schools with European sections, our schools decided to unite to create our own conference called INOMUN (International North Model United Nations), a simulation of the United Nations organised by students for students.
The challenging project has demanded commitment and encouraged us to take on new responsibilities, with the aim of gathering like-minded students ready to share their interest in foreign languages and international relations.
We were very proud to organise the first edition of INOMUN from 18th to 20th March 2015 in the Hotel de Région Nord Pas-de-Calais. Read about on our website. The second, Winter edition of INOMUN, will take place once again in the Hotel de Région from 30th November to 2nd December 2015.
INOMUN is made for students who have a particular interest in English and in debating. If you enjoy taking the floor before an audience as well as expressing and defending your ideas, then INOMUN is made for you. The conference is an extracurricular activity which is organised by students and for students. INOMUN is also a way to improve one's speaking skills in English and gain in self-confidence. This simulation will allow you to explore new ways of thinking and new ideas as well as to meet new students from other regions of France and Europe. To conclude, this rewarding and empowering experience is a great way to prepare your future.
Reactions to the previous edition INOMUN
“Talking in english non-stop during 3
days was such a good pleasure, it's rare. I think it's an important point of this
experience.”
Camille, Lycée Marguerite de Flandre
“I was representing a tiny, tiny country: Brunei. It was probably the best country I could have. It was funny to defend opinions that weren’t mine and vote for ideas I would never share. I just had
to take the seat of someone I was opposed to and think like this person.”
Jean, Lycée Flaubert
“I was impressed with how my students were
able to understand and use the Research Reports and other documents on the countries they
represented. We were not able to devote class time to working on the vocabulary or on the economic
and historical aspects of Oil issues. However, I think that was a good thing because they came to
the topic with fresh eyes. The result was they really expanded their knowledge of Oil issues.''
Fabienne Auger, Mun Director of Lycée Colbert
“ “Fantastic experience, we'll keep very
good memories in mind, thanks !”
Lisa, Lycée Arthur Rimbaud
“INOMUN was an amazing experience ! It was
my first MUN and I really loved it. I had the opportunity to meet great people and to have
so much fun ! Thank you !”
Estelle, Lycée Giraux Sannier
“The organisation of the project was of a very high
standard and made for a very enriching experience. We were able to talk to our colleagues about our respective
teaching methods; opportunities for teachers in European and International sections to meet are extremely rare. We
also learnt a lot about setting up MUN clubs in schools. Since INOMUN registration fees are low, our school was
able to pay for all the students. Thanks to the removal of this financial barrier, every student was able to apply to
take part.”
Ms Belloy and Ms Merlin, MUN Directors of Lycée Giraud Sannier
Provisional planning
Day 1
- 1.00-1.45pm: Registration
- 1.45-2.30pm: Welcome of the delegates in their respective committees
- 2.30-4.00pm: Opening ceremony
- 4.00-6.00pm: Delegates return to their committees
- 6.00-6.30pm: Delegates meet their host families
Day 2
- 8.30-10.00am: Lobbying session (by country) for the General Assembly
- 10.15-12.00am: Resumption of the debates by committee
- 12.00-1.30pm: Lunch time
- 1.30-5.30pm: Resumption of debates by committee
- 5.30-6.00pm: Vote on the Resolution as a whole
- 6.00-6.30pm: Delegates join their host families
- 8.00-11.00pm: Evening party (meal included)
Day 3
- 9.00-12.00am: General Assembly
- 12.00-1.30pm: Lunch time
- 1.30-5.00pm: General Assembly
- 5.00-6.00pm: Closing ceremony
INOMUN 2015 – WINTER EDITION
The committees
Countries represented
The INOMUN I theme was Oil Issues and Renewable Energy. This year's WINTER EDITION INOMUN will raise the question of Social Inequalities in the world, and Empowerment of different populations, which are themes that should be debated by the United Nations later this year. We wanted to tackle these very current issues for INOMUN's second edition, for which the delegates will have to understand and debate the topics of Gender Inequalities, access to proper education, or even oppressed groups of population that rightfully claim emancipation. We are convinced that acting for a better world, even at this scale, is possible. And that doing so together would probably open us to a whole new world of possibilities.
For this edition, we chose to add yet another committee to the ones we already had.
1. International Security Council: Piracy in the South China Sea region
2. Human Rights Council: Persecution of the Kurd community
3. Historical Council: The Yom Kippur War of 1973
4. United Nations Development Programme: Women’s integration in Sub-Saharan Africa's economy
5. Economical and Social Council: Barriers concerning women's professional advancement in MEDCs.
6. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Illegal immigration in the Mediterranean
7. UNICEF: Access to education in South America
General Assembly: Gender equality
In the same way we did the previous edition, some fifty-odd countries will be represented at the General assembly, and an average of twenty delegates in every committee.
The INOMUN team
For this second, WINTER EDITION of INOMUN, the organising team is composed of:
§ Secretaries General (communicate with teachers and MUN directors, supervise the work and the progression of each department)
Nisrine Tabka, Zoé Colpaert
§ Chairs (manage the debates and write the research reports for the preparation of those debates)
Anna Meurot, Antoine Raymackers
Andrew Irwin, Paul Lancry
§ Admins (handle the administration of the Conference and the hosting of delegates, and help the chairs coordinate the debates)
Alexia Marsal, Zac Azdad
Jeanne Sicard, Louis Vekemans
§ Social Events (organise activities to keep the conference lively and handle communication between schools)
Daphné Grunt, Didier Mazingue
Emma Fernandez, Mélissa Aksil
§ Finance (manage the conference's budget)
Neila Khelifi, Mathilde Merkoum
Elvire Beyret, Martin Houppermans
§ Press Team (reach out to the media in order to ensure the conference has enough press coverage)
Fabian Castillo Rodriguez, Solène Schuster
Axel Bruniau, Saskia Grzesczyk
In addition to these organisers, "team members" will be recruited in the organising schools.
The Region and the lycées
Special thanks
The Region Nord-Pas-de-Calais is responsible for the renovation, and maintenance of the region's secondary schools (lycées). The Region is responsible for the technicians working in them and accompanies the lycées in their everyday tasks. The Region is welcoming us for the second time this year in their prestigious venue for the INOMUN Winter Edition, thus fulfilling its commitment to support and to encourage student initiatives and projects on culture, sustainable development and citizenship.
Although INOMUN is a project conceived and organised by secondary-school students, it could not take place without the help and advice of our teachers and the administrations of our schools, who have not hesitated to support such an ambitious project. In addition, have given us advice and provided logistic support for the running of the conference. GPSIBL (Group of Parents from the British International Section of Lille) is a non-profit association whose aim, is to promote the British International Section.
CONTACT US [email protected]
inomun.weebly.com
