BayernMUN 2018…

On Friday, the 23rd of February 2018, it was time again: The annual BayernMUN conference took place. For many people for the first time, but there were also some who had already experienced BayernMUN before. Until 12:00 pm it was possible to check in at the Cinecitta cinema for hotel accommodation, as well as receive name badges and a small supply bag. A short time later, also the placards could be received. In addition, the organizers gave the participating delegates the opportunity to refresh the rules for the conference in a lecture on the „Rules of Procedure“. Afterwards, you had some time to get to know the other participants. This year‘s conference took place in the centre of Nuremberg, in the marble hall of the Nuremberg Press Club. After the opening ceremony with some interesting speeches on the part of the event management, the United Nations Society Nuremberg (UNSN e.V.), the Diaconia Neuendettelsau and Ms. Claussen from the Memorium Nuremberg Trials were scheduled for 2 pm, the hall quickly filled to the last place. Subsequently, the members of the „Chair“ were introduced for the next three days of the conference. The Bayern Model United Nations Conference 2018 was officially opened by the hammer blow of the „Chair Director“.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Chair read out the names of the registered nations in a „roll call“ and the delegations mentioned spoke of their presence with the words „present“ or „present and voting“. Afterwards, the Secretary determined the quorum of the conference which would clarify how many votes would be needed for a simple or two-thirds majority. Next, the Director read out the provisional agenda for the conference which could now be discussed and rearranged by delegations. The topics for the conference were: „Ensuring Access to Clean and Safe Water“, „Ensuring Women‘s and Men‘s Equal Participation in Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding“ and „Achieving the SDGs through STI and Data-Driven Decision-Making“. In one-minute speeches, delegates were given the opportunity to convince the plenary of their proposal for the agenda-setting. After a large number of speeches was heard, the provisional agenda was officially recognised as set and elected by a majority in a vote by holding up the placards. In the next few hours, in speeches and discus- sions during the „informal sessions“, i. e. short interruptions to the session, it was important to present one‘s own position on the chosen first topic (Ensuring Access to Clean and Safe Water), to strengthen it and to find allies among delegates of the other nations. The first day of the conference was quickly drawing to a close. Already on the first day, several groups assembled and worked together on different approaches to solve the issue in the best way possible. The busy hours were interrupted by „formal sessions“ in which the delegates in speeches tried to convince others of their proposed solutions and group work or votes on the length of speeches as well as breaks for lunch or dinner and a joint evening programme on Saturday with the „Delegates Dance“ in the lounge of the Cinecitta cinema. The intensive negotiations led to seven successfully passed resolutions in the final vote on Sunday. In the closing ceremony, the participants were presented the “Position Paper Award”, the“ChairAward”of the conference management and the “Peer Award”, which is chosen by the participants. All in all, it was a very interesting weekend to get to know and experience the work of the United Nations first hand by stepping into the role of a delegate.