What is MUN?

Nina Martin, Y10

What is it and how does it link to our school?

MUN is a type of debate meant to simulate the debating going on at the United Nations. A program where teenagers can learn to act as delegates and represent different countries and different perspectives. Discovering all the committees the UN has. Such as HRC (Human Rights Council), WHO (World Health Organisation), Security Council, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), etc… Debating on topics that are usually about the actual situations going on in the world right now. With hundreds of thousands of students - or delegates in MUN lingo - taking part around the world. With 80 of them being delegates from our very own school! 

FIS has an MUN club consisting of y8-y13 students from both streams and both campuses. An amazing mix of confident and less confident delegates, prepared to share and collaborate in order to get the best experience. It is a place where students learn to take confidence in their public speaking, debate and improvisation skills. But most importantly, a place to learn, constantly. Learn about countries around the world; about ongoing political crises; about wars; about problems being debated at a much larger scale; about our modern diplomacy; about international relations. A place where education, debating, fun, sharing, and communication takes control. The club is led by four directors: Lea (a french stream y13 student), Henry (a french stream y12 student), Antoine (a french stream year 13 student), and me, Nina (an international stream y10 student). 

What is an MUN conference?

What is the use of spending an hour a week debating and expanding your MUN skills if you have nowhere to put it into practice? Conferences are a delegate's playground. The time to show off your skills and win awards! Awards such as Best Delegate, Best Speaker and Most Improved Delegate in your respective committee. They are a week-end long event hosted by a school where they invited delegates from all over to come and debate in different committees. With advanced committees throwing retorts back and forth, to beginner committees learning how to formulate witty POIs (point of information, basically a question). Students can choose to delegate, and simply debate, or to try to make Chair and lead their delegates! Of course, such an event needs organisation. This factors in the Secretariats. The brave students who sacrifice their time, sweat and blood into making their school’s conference the best possible! A place to make friendships and learn more about yourself and the like minded people in your city or country or even continent! 

Hong Kong is a city full of conferences. With a good average of 15 yearly. This year, 13 conferences have made their way to the calendar. With 5 already past and 8 more to go. With schools such as CDNIS, HKIS, VSA, ESF schools, and more, deciding to open up their doors and accept students from all over HK international schools. Our delegates have always made a very strong presence in the conference scene. Bringing back awards left and right from all types of committees! Something that makes us directors very proud to see. But they are also very present when it comes to chairing. With a few of our delegates being renowned for their incredible efforts and dedication.

Do not hesitate to contact any of the MUN Directors for information on how to join the club and to answer all of your questions! And to keep track of our MUN community at school, follow the @fismunclub instagram account!

FISMUN - Our Third Conference!

Nina Martin, Y10 

Just last month, our school had the pride to host our second edition of FISMUN. Because not only does our school have a club, we have also hosted a very successful conference last year that was improved upon and made even better this year by our amazing Secretariat. A Secretariat consisting of three main students: Olwen Brown, Juliette Deiss and Gaspard Cabaret. They worked together for 6 months to give us the 2 day long conference on the 18th and 19th of November. There were 6 committees and around 180 delegates, chairs and… FISH! After all the weird terms and abbreviations you have read so far, FISH must be the most incomprehensible one. Instead of the classic term ‘MUNions’ used by the MUN community, we had opted to use FIS Helpers (FISH). Our little fishies were there to set everything up and pass our very important notes throughout committee sessions.They were constantly filming and photographing the funniest moments of the conference. From a delegate nearly doing his entire opening speech with his fly down to dance battles at break in the hallway, it’s suffice to say that the conference was quite an enjoyable one. The Consulate General of Egypt, Mr. Sheweikhi opened the conference and answered questions about political careers that many of the delegates wanted to pursue, leaving us all with high aims and dreams for our careers. 

FISMUN was a success, not only thanks to the people that were there and the atmosphere it built, but of the performance of our delegates! Six of our delegates proudly brought back awards: Jacqueline Li earned herself an award for Best Delegate in HRC; Rose Lyden, Henry Pandami, and Lune Delettre-Gros earned themselves awards for being the Best Speakers of GA (General Assembly), Crisis Committee, and CSTD (Commission on Science and Technology for Development ); Elodie Lambotte and Louise Arbey both revealed Most Improved in GA and HRC; and to conclude, 4 of our amazing delegates received honourable mentions in their chairs’ closing speeches - Aashi, Sonia, Lea, and Debroop!