Third GMUN Conference a Success

December 6, 2019

Academics

GNS

Last week, GNS Model United Nations 2019 Conference wrapped up two days of successful diplomacy and tackling various issues.

“GMUN was a great success for us,” said Lam Vu, Director General of GMUN 2019. “Delegates at GMUN had a chance to voice their opinion on global issues, such as the consequences of the fast fashion industry, combating terrorism and the humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Not only did they successfully tackle the issues, but they also produced fruitful debates and resolution papers.”

GNS hosted around 80 delegates in Grade 6 to 12 from the Greater Victoria area, including St. Michael’s and Shawinigan from November 29 to 30.

“Even though GMUN is a small conference compared to others, we hope delegates had a fun time experiencing diplomacy and know that they are creating an impact,” said Vu.

This was the third year of GMUN, and the conference has evolved a lot since its inception. “We started from a small in-house conference three years ago with only two committees and this year we hosted three committees plus a press corps,” said Melody Chang, Secretary General at GMUN 2019.

The committees at GMUN included the ECOSOC Beginner, ECOSOC Intermediate, Security Council, the Star Wars Crisis and the International Press Corps.

The Press Corps throughout the weekend wrote articles like the ones they would see in various news outlets (Al Jazeera, BBC, Buzzfeed News and Fox News).

Some notable moments included a Fox News writer being held hostage in the Star Wars Galaxy, United Nations Delegates fashion choices, comedy, betrayal and more.

To catch up on all the articles and what specifically went on in the committees check out the Press Corp articles here!

This year GMUN also hosted an inspirational speaker, Rishma Thomas, who spoke about her experience founding an NGO called Sparks. Sparks is a school-based community service club in Vancouver that has grown into a registered Canadian non-profit. This year, GMUN also included a Culture Festival, which was hosted by the GNS Culture Club. The festival was a favourite for many attendees. Invited to the event was a Norwegian organization called Sons of Norway, who introduced the delegates to their traditional dance, food and culture.

“All the delegates danced together in a circle, and it was a lot of fun,” said Cheng.

“Many booths were representing a variety of countries including Taiwan, Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and Mexico. Delegates enjoyed traditional food and games from different cultures, just to name a few, bubble tea from traditional Taiwanese night markets, tossing yoot from Korean culture, calligraphy from Chinese culture, etc.”

Good job to all those involved in making the third annual GMUN conference such a success! PHOTO GALLERY