T minus two days!
Only a few weeks left!
In the weeks leading up to the conferences, the MUN spirit is as high as ever. Committees are preparing to have mock debates, surrounding the themes of the conference (of course). The G20 for instance had a debate on the issue of telecommunication in high environmental risk zones. This experience was visibly new for some of the delegates: points of parliamentary inquiry are frequent, and some of the technical fineries still need to be reviewed, but overall the mechanisms of an MUN conference were soon understood and efficiently applied. FerMUN is off to a terrific start.
By Emily Perriens
By Emily Perriens
Translation team trouble..
2:30 PM on a Wednesday afternoon and a hustle of excitement fills the Agora. When the loud shuffle subdues, a brief presentation of each committee, including the press, translation and interpretation committees, takes place.
However, amidst the murmurs of the students, the distinction between these last two seems to have been lost.
Succinctly, the activities of the translation team are to translate texts (such as research reports, or resolutions), while the interpretation team translates conversations simultaneously.
Inevitably, because of the glossy aesthetic of the diplomatic attaché interpreting crucial international talks, most MUNers were drawn to the interpretation committee, leaving the translation team painfully undermanned.
A recruiting campaign has therefore been launched among those who were not fortunate enough to be able to join the club, making for a better but still complicated situation.
So, although the club is doing well, there are still some major problems to be dealt with. Will the translation committee remain the sick man of FerMUN or will enough people join the team by the 15th of November? Nothing is more uncertain, and with the rapidly approaching conference, it seems like the team will have to take on the Herculean task of translating an entire conference. A frightening prospect indeed.
By Emily Perriens
However, amidst the murmurs of the students, the distinction between these last two seems to have been lost.
Succinctly, the activities of the translation team are to translate texts (such as research reports, or resolutions), while the interpretation team translates conversations simultaneously.
Inevitably, because of the glossy aesthetic of the diplomatic attaché interpreting crucial international talks, most MUNers were drawn to the interpretation committee, leaving the translation team painfully undermanned.
A recruiting campaign has therefore been launched among those who were not fortunate enough to be able to join the club, making for a better but still complicated situation.
So, although the club is doing well, there are still some major problems to be dealt with. Will the translation committee remain the sick man of FerMUN or will enough people join the team by the 15th of November? Nothing is more uncertain, and with the rapidly approaching conference, it seems like the team will have to take on the Herculean task of translating an entire conference. A frightening prospect indeed.
By Emily Perriens
FerMUN Chairs go to UN
On Wednesday the 9th of October 2013, a chair formation took place in the OHCHR, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Geneva, home of the HRC, Human Rights Council.
Students and directors of FerMUN met Mr. Rolando Gomez, the public information officer of the HRC branch and Mrs. Kurveena Pyneeandy, an associate Human Rights officer in the same branch. Mrs. Pyneeandy assists in the servicing of the HRC and mostly works with complaint procedures.
Arriving at the UN, the whole group was astonished by the stateliness of the building and once inside, they were led into one of the conference rooms where they were presented to Mr. Gomez and Mrs. Pyneeandy.
Mr. Gomez introduced the formation with the importance of communication: ideas are there to be “echoed out loud”. You need to provide space and articulate so that ideas can be heard – the message has to get out!
Both officers had different constructive advice on how to be a good chair and while Mr. Gomez emphasized that the information you use in your speech must be clear in your mind (he suggested the use of cards to remind ourselves of key points). Mrs. Pyneeandy reminded us that animating the speech – and conference in general – was always a bonus. Chairs are representing people who don’t have a voice; therefore you need to be confident and remind yourself that you are “the expert”. If you want your delegates to listen to you, you need to show them that you’re responsible and passionate.
On the first day, a good step would be to identify and clarify the key issues of your subject. By interacting, the relation between you and your delegates and amongst the delegates themselves will grow. In order to motivate them, you must prove your own motivation. Use “icebreakers” to get the flow going. Capture their attention by being original and confident. Take breaks to renew their attention. Mrs. Pyneeandy even pointed out that if you yawn before speaking, your voice and mouth are more relaxed, which will make your voice stronger and clearer!
Mr. Gomez was eager to see that two members of the press were also present. Thus, he gave us some extra advices on how to write a good article. “Check your sources and stick to the facts!” he said with a laugh. To grab the reader’s attention, start your article with an interesting introduction, answering the questions “who?”, “what?”, “when?” and “where?” To get further facts and quotes, don’t hesitate to interview the delegates.
Afterwards, the FerMUN directors and board members explained to Mr. Gomez and Mrs. Pyneeandy this year’s conference and what it revolved around. Mrs. Pyneeandy had equally participated in MUN when she was our age, back in her home country Mauritius. Both expressed great enthusiasm for our project and encouraged it; and even declared they would be present during the opening ceremony.
As the discussion drew to an end, the students were fortunate enough to be shown the renowned room Twenty, the human rights room. What catches the eye most in this room is the ceiling: the different colors give the impression of being submerged underwater. The ceiling was decorated by the Spanish painter Miquel Barcelo.
At the end of the formation, the chairs were feeling confident and ready for the following months. Everyone is looking forward to the conference drawing closer and closer every day.
By Maaike Van Der Geest
Students and directors of FerMUN met Mr. Rolando Gomez, the public information officer of the HRC branch and Mrs. Kurveena Pyneeandy, an associate Human Rights officer in the same branch. Mrs. Pyneeandy assists in the servicing of the HRC and mostly works with complaint procedures.
Arriving at the UN, the whole group was astonished by the stateliness of the building and once inside, they were led into one of the conference rooms where they were presented to Mr. Gomez and Mrs. Pyneeandy.
Mr. Gomez introduced the formation with the importance of communication: ideas are there to be “echoed out loud”. You need to provide space and articulate so that ideas can be heard – the message has to get out!
Both officers had different constructive advice on how to be a good chair and while Mr. Gomez emphasized that the information you use in your speech must be clear in your mind (he suggested the use of cards to remind ourselves of key points). Mrs. Pyneeandy reminded us that animating the speech – and conference in general – was always a bonus. Chairs are representing people who don’t have a voice; therefore you need to be confident and remind yourself that you are “the expert”. If you want your delegates to listen to you, you need to show them that you’re responsible and passionate.
On the first day, a good step would be to identify and clarify the key issues of your subject. By interacting, the relation between you and your delegates and amongst the delegates themselves will grow. In order to motivate them, you must prove your own motivation. Use “icebreakers” to get the flow going. Capture their attention by being original and confident. Take breaks to renew their attention. Mrs. Pyneeandy even pointed out that if you yawn before speaking, your voice and mouth are more relaxed, which will make your voice stronger and clearer!
Mr. Gomez was eager to see that two members of the press were also present. Thus, he gave us some extra advices on how to write a good article. “Check your sources and stick to the facts!” he said with a laugh. To grab the reader’s attention, start your article with an interesting introduction, answering the questions “who?”, “what?”, “when?” and “where?” To get further facts and quotes, don’t hesitate to interview the delegates.
Afterwards, the FerMUN directors and board members explained to Mr. Gomez and Mrs. Pyneeandy this year’s conference and what it revolved around. Mrs. Pyneeandy had equally participated in MUN when she was our age, back in her home country Mauritius. Both expressed great enthusiasm for our project and encouraged it; and even declared they would be present during the opening ceremony.
As the discussion drew to an end, the students were fortunate enough to be shown the renowned room Twenty, the human rights room. What catches the eye most in this room is the ceiling: the different colors give the impression of being submerged underwater. The ceiling was decorated by the Spanish painter Miquel Barcelo.
At the end of the formation, the chairs were feeling confident and ready for the following months. Everyone is looking forward to the conference drawing closer and closer every day.
By Maaike Van Der Geest
MUN takes part in the BYND15 !
It’s amazing what young people can do when you give them a short timeline and trust that they can do a good job with their own imagination and motivation. We saw this last night at the #BYND2015 Geneva Hub workshop. With most of our team in Costa Rica working on the real Summit, we held a hub workshop of our own with students from Ferney Voltaire Model UN (FerMUN) and Webster University. This hub allowed young people in Geneva to participate in the BYND2015 Global Youth Summit.
The group of around 50 students was divided into 10 teams, each team addressing one challenge. Time was spent individually brainstorming ideas, then coming together as a team to find the most common and most interesting ideas. The best idea was then developed by the groups through discussing challenges, implementation, limitations, and outcomes. At the end each team gave a brief explanation of their idea to the whole group.
The workshop was moderated by Dr. Fernando Lagraña, Head of the Partnership Building Division at ITU and marketing professor at Webster University, and facilitated by ITU interns Leila Ajaz, Elizabeth Hart, Chris Ip, Despoina Sareidaki and Nicolas Heidrich, and FerMUN students Roberta Maggi and Charlotte Cattaneo.
Ideas for the challenges were actively debated, and produced some interesting outcomes. These included: producing a film on cyber risks for popular release, creating apps that would allow people to subscribe to updates on world issues or assist with diagnosis of common illnesses, integrating environmental consciousness in early education to culminate in a global remotely participated environmental innovation fair.
The final ideas will be published on ideas.itu.int and sent to #BYND2105 HQ in Costa Rica to incorporate into the final statement for the UN General Assembly.
Overall, it was a successful event, but most importantly everyone – participants and facilitators alike – took away an important message from the night. As said by our moderator Fernando Lagraña, it only takes one person to make a difference, and that person is you. We chose to take an evening to challenge ourselves with significant global challenges. In doing so we all changed ourselves, and changed our world.
By Elizabeth Hart
The group of around 50 students was divided into 10 teams, each team addressing one challenge. Time was spent individually brainstorming ideas, then coming together as a team to find the most common and most interesting ideas. The best idea was then developed by the groups through discussing challenges, implementation, limitations, and outcomes. At the end each team gave a brief explanation of their idea to the whole group.
The workshop was moderated by Dr. Fernando Lagraña, Head of the Partnership Building Division at ITU and marketing professor at Webster University, and facilitated by ITU interns Leila Ajaz, Elizabeth Hart, Chris Ip, Despoina Sareidaki and Nicolas Heidrich, and FerMUN students Roberta Maggi and Charlotte Cattaneo.
Ideas for the challenges were actively debated, and produced some interesting outcomes. These included: producing a film on cyber risks for popular release, creating apps that would allow people to subscribe to updates on world issues or assist with diagnosis of common illnesses, integrating environmental consciousness in early education to culminate in a global remotely participated environmental innovation fair.
The final ideas will be published on ideas.itu.int and sent to #BYND2105 HQ in Costa Rica to incorporate into the final statement for the UN General Assembly.
Overall, it was a successful event, but most importantly everyone – participants and facilitators alike – took away an important message from the night. As said by our moderator Fernando Lagraña, it only takes one person to make a difference, and that person is you. We chose to take an evening to challenge ourselves with significant global challenges. In doing so we all changed ourselves, and changed our world.
By Elizabeth Hart
Our last conference: FerMUN'13
Telecommunication, a very current and present theme, was chosen by our 2013 President for last year’s conference. Smartphones, tablets, the Internet and 3G – MUNers were completely at ease in this subject and gave it their all by using their knowledge to suggest solutions to the problems facing today’s world. Preparations had started during the summer and on the second week of September, FerMUN held its first session for the 2013 conference in the Agora at the Lycée. Chaotic and confusing at first, the Wednesday meetings quickly but surely became efficient: delegates debated, the Press interviewed, and the Translation team practiced. We were all preparing for the upcoming conference, eager to take part in such an event.
On January 9, 10 and 11 2013, at the ITU, FerMUN hosted its 8th conference where the theme was “Telecommunications as the way forward in development, peace and prosperity”. Mobile phones, tablets and the Internet – young people were completely at ease in this subject. But how do we use these technologies for development? This was the question that students asked themselves, and their debates were related to ICTs. “We wanted to give them a new perspective about the Internet” says Maria Gomez, our FerMUN’13 Secretary General. The General Director of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, set the conference in motion at the opening ceremony with an insightful and inspiring speech that put forward the MUN spirit.
From coming to school in dress code, to grinning excitedly outside the ITU, to debating the themes and finally writing the resolutions, our FerMUN students lived the MUN experience together and to the fullest. Although the conference officially began at the opening ceremony – which vibrated with anticipation – and ended at the closing ceremony where we shared fond memories, the MUN spirit resonated throughout the entire year. It was definitely not hard to guess who had participated in the FerMUN conference when we came back to school: we were all beaming!
On top of that, not only did our students participate in the conference, they also invested their time in other MUN related events such as the WMO conference on climate in March, the Girls in ICTs day at the ITU in April – during the holidays – and the ITU conference on Youth in May. 16 students volunteered to be present on a Saturday morning for the Lycée’s Open Day - they came in dress code, ITU badges, and organized MUN style debates in which visitors could participate – big success.
Now we’re looking forward to FerMUN’14, which will take place in January 2014 at the ITU as well. The theme will be on climate change and sustainable development, and we aim to raise the students’ awareness on this challenging issue that we’re facing today. Preparations have already started and we are all eagerly waiting for next year to start, and for the MUN experience to return.
By Leila Hassan
On January 9, 10 and 11 2013, at the ITU, FerMUN hosted its 8th conference where the theme was “Telecommunications as the way forward in development, peace and prosperity”. Mobile phones, tablets and the Internet – young people were completely at ease in this subject. But how do we use these technologies for development? This was the question that students asked themselves, and their debates were related to ICTs. “We wanted to give them a new perspective about the Internet” says Maria Gomez, our FerMUN’13 Secretary General. The General Director of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, set the conference in motion at the opening ceremony with an insightful and inspiring speech that put forward the MUN spirit.
From coming to school in dress code, to grinning excitedly outside the ITU, to debating the themes and finally writing the resolutions, our FerMUN students lived the MUN experience together and to the fullest. Although the conference officially began at the opening ceremony – which vibrated with anticipation – and ended at the closing ceremony where we shared fond memories, the MUN spirit resonated throughout the entire year. It was definitely not hard to guess who had participated in the FerMUN conference when we came back to school: we were all beaming!
On top of that, not only did our students participate in the conference, they also invested their time in other MUN related events such as the WMO conference on climate in March, the Girls in ICTs day at the ITU in April – during the holidays – and the ITU conference on Youth in May. 16 students volunteered to be present on a Saturday morning for the Lycée’s Open Day - they came in dress code, ITU badges, and organized MUN style debates in which visitors could participate – big success.
Now we’re looking forward to FerMUN’14, which will take place in January 2014 at the ITU as well. The theme will be on climate change and sustainable development, and we aim to raise the students’ awareness on this challenging issue that we’re facing today. Preparations have already started and we are all eagerly waiting for next year to start, and for the MUN experience to return.
By Leila Hassan