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I have 3 countries to choose from, which should I pick? St. Lucia, Namibia or Cuba?

Personally, I think that all three are great. For St. Lucia and Namibia, your position will be lesser known so you can get away with being flexible on it. And for Cuba, they are pretty clear with their policy on certain issues, which would make it easier to represent them in some topics.

I am going to my 2nd MUN conference in a few weeks and last time I had a partner. This time I'm all by myself. One thing that I had a lot of trouble with last time was the resolutions. I felt like I couldn't contribute anything because the language used in the resolution was so confusing to me. Do you have any tips?

If the language part of writing resolutions is tough for you, just try listing out your ideas very specifically so that if you are working on a paper with a group of other people you could have them help you with the wording while still providing all of the substance. And by having them help you, you'll pick up how to do it yourself :)

Hi I'm going to a conference next month and I'm on the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda. Since its not a normal committee, what should I do? Please let me know ASAP :)

My best suggestion is that for rules and the workings of a special committee like that one that you go to the conference website and look at the background guide, chair's notes, etc. You can also email your chair, depending on how far the conference is, and ask!

I'm going to my first MUN conference soon (ILMUNC) and im in World Bank alone. Tips for getting over nerves and taking notes while still listening to new things being said??? Thank you so much!

To help you with speaking and understanding what is going on, I really recommend jotting down some things you want to talk about, ideas that you heard other delegates talking about, and trying to find a friendly face or two to stick with you and ally themselves with your paper.

How do you deal with sexism in male-dominated committees? I tried to be more aggressive during my last conference because my group mates weren't taking me seriously, and I think the chairs saw that as being bossy. They also only picked men for the awards even though there were a lot of great women. Ugh

YES. It is the classic dilemma of wanting to get shit done and be a leader, yet not wanting to be called a bitch. I've been in committees where the chairs favor guys or where they favor girls they find attractive. And unfortunately, to overcome sexism, a lot of girls try to use their appearance to boost their chances. In fact, this past weekend I went to McMUN (I'm in college MUN, now) and was accused by some of my high school MUN friends of using my 'assets' to win myself an award. Which, of course, is rude and untrue. But it just goes to show that people think girls can't win at MUN without there being something else behind it.

do you have to speak at all at a conference?? I keep hearing about and "opening speech" and and am freaked out

(I'm so sorry that I haven't responded to any of these messages, tumblr never told me about them :0)

Well, yes and no. You don't have to speak at a conference, but you should. There are plenty and plenty of opportunities to speak, and you will see that the other delegates in your room will be speaking.

this is my 2nd year in mun and I've never had a partner and my next conference I do. I'm quite scared and don't know how to act in committee with one... any advice on how I can act?

Having a partner is actually super helpful because one partner can be staying active in debate while the other one is writing a resolution/directive/crisis notes. So that is helpful. Having a partner is not too much different from being solo, you just have to get together beforehand to share research, figure out a game plan, and make sure the end goal is mutual. During committee, just make sure you communicate with your partner, possibly through notes, about what's going on. Just make sure you allow your partner equal opportunity to speak and that during unmoderated caucus, you guys split up with set goals in mind.

I am representing the US in a model UN security council. What should I prepare for? what arguments should I use? I feel that by forcing intervention i'll unleash a huge mess, so I was thinking about reaching a peaceful and constructive resolution that benefits not only the US, but also the UK, Russia, and everyone else. how do I do this?

The US tends to lean towards the more intervention side of politics (they will want to send in Peace Keepers, most likely), which is always contested by the anti-involvement policies of the Russian Federation and China. Don't try to force intervention, this will not pass if your other P5 nations are on their game and it will make you look bad. Try finding a common ground saying action may be taken if absolutely necessary/something drastic happens/demands aren't met.

I have a model UN conference next week and the dress I was going to wear is bright red. Is it still ok to wear even though it's a bright color?

Yes, it is still okay to wear. Just be aware that if your dress is a statement piece, your makeup, jewelry, and shoes should be pretty toned down to balance it out. Or, put a blazer over the dress to tone it down a bit without losing the color.

Hi, so I'm going to WMHSMUN in a week, and some of the older delegates suggested to bring food (granola bars, cookies, etc) since it would be hard to get food. They also suggested to bring candy and mints and share with other delegates to make friends and make a bloc. What is your suggestion?

YES. BRING SNACKS.

Some of my most difficult moments were being trapped in downtown business district of Boston at 1AM after committee let out and not being able to find a single place to buy food. Snacks are life.

As far as bringing candy or mints for other delegates, this is hit or miss. Some committees might have a strict "no food" policy, but mints are always fun and will help you get through long committees.

Hi, so I have a Model UN conference in a week. I heard from some older delegates that once you arrive to the conference (it's 3 days long) people will come up and ask you what committee you're in, what country, and what topic you want to do. Do you suggest that I do that, so people get to know me? Thanks :)

Yeah, of course! It's great to socialize with other delegates because you may not just meet people in your committee, you may meet people you will compete with in the future. It's good to start on friendly terms with everyone because it helps them get familiar with your country name and position when you start debating.

Hi, I will be attending a crisis committee. It is called ad-hoc, and it is a crisis where we do not know anything until the committee starts. This is my first crisis. Do you have any advice for someone doing their first crisis, in which no one knows what the topic is or who their characters are?

Crisis is difficult. Seriously. I just did my first legit crisis committee today (college Model UN is apparently all crisis??) and I was a little lost at first. Since you don't know your character, topic, or anything else, it's fair to say that you and everyone else will be at the same starting point.

What my Model UN mentor taught me about crisis:

You have three things/want three things: People, intelligence, and money. If you can end up with all three by the end of committee then that is great.

You have to forge your own path through your topic by hiring people to find out stuff for you, get things done for you, put out press releases, kidnap this person, start this drug ring, etc.

It is really all about finding out how to use people (possibly your "wife", "secretary", "brother", "childhood friend", etc), intelligence (I like to administer polls, send out surveys, establish secret intelligence corps), and money ($$$$$) to reach your goal for the topic.

Hope this helped!

Hi, I will be going to my first MUN conference in March. I am pretty nervous as I am not so good with public speaking and explaining. Will I be okay as long as I research? And will I even have to speak at it? I just want to know what to expect there so I will be prepared!

While it may not be absolutely required that you speak at the conference, you should try your hardest to. I know it's super intimidating (trust me, I just launched myself into college Model UN and I feel the struggle), but it makes the conference a lot more interesting and the more you speak, the better you will feel about it. Doing a lot of research is definitely a good thing and by being sure of your facts, you will find it easier to talk about your issue.

Try your hardest, speak as much as you can, do well! :)

I am representing the United States in mock UN and I don't know what to say for my speech, our resolution does not condemn Russia's actions but rather seeks to call a ceasefire and an open discussion, dividing Ukraine into 10 states with roughly 10% of the population. I have prepared for questions and backlash from Russia but I don't know what to say to sway the gerneal assembly to accept the resolution

Basically everything you said would be really good talking points for pitching it to your committee. To sway countries that may not typically be your best friends, try explaining how this is a peaceful yet powerful action and how it will better the situation. By providing explanation about how this idea differs and stands apart from other ideas, you can sway people.

Hope this helped!

Example of crisis alerts in a military jcc

An example of one of the crisis alerts I've gotten in committee:

"Military supplies from France have been forcibly seized by Syria rebels, 15 deaths and multiple injuries resulted."

I hope that is helpful!

What are the chances that a committee will start with a second topic instead of the first topic?

Starting on either topic is pretty fair game! Some conferences require topics to be debated in the order they appear on the background guide, but this is not always the case and a lot of conferences let the committee choose. It also depends on the topic itself, is it is an 'easier' topic it is more likely to get voted upon to go first.

Hey, I'm going to be representing France at my next competition in a committee on the current Ukraine crisis. From what I can gather, France is against Russia's actions and supports the new government, but wants the situation to be solved as peacefully as possible without military intervention, though from past actions it's likely they would go along with the US or UK should they send troops. Do you have any advice for what sort of things I can propose? Thank you!

Since UK/USA wants to take to the intervention side and Russia would obviously be against that, you can act as the mediating force for compromise. As allies with UK/USA, you can pull your friendly relations for compromise. Russia will be glad you don't want to intervene and will also be willing to work with you. Personally, I would propose a non-intervention initiative that worked for peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian leaders for a treaty that solves the different issues. To appease UK/USA, I'd suggest that you support Russia and Ukraine to work out problems if possible through bilateral talks hosted by the UN and if that fails and violence prevails, the UN should evaluate for intervention/sanctions/other action.

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