The SimONU team participated in NMUN of NEW YORK held on April 10-14

22/04/2022
The National Model United Nations of NEW YORK is the largest international organisation to simulate the United Nations. Some of its meetings take place at the UN headquarters. They bring together almost 5000 students from all over the world for 5 days in order to discuss international issues. Our students from the SimONU associations in Bordeaux and Marseille are also involved in the preparation of this event in New York. They spend several months conducting research on the country at stake (this year, the United Kingdom) and on the topics that will be discussed in the various workshops, all related to the Objectives of Sustainable Development.

SimONU and the UN simulations

The simulations of the United Nations General Assembly sessions are a way to promote the values of peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet. 

During the training workshops, each delegation of the SimONU team plays the role of a diplomat who represents a country and defines a strategy for dealing with an international issue. The Kedgers are then asked to deliver a speech at the podium and to negotiate with their counterparts. The objective is to defend the interests of the country represented and reach consensus on the draft resolution by a majority of votes, while respecting the UN protocol!

New NMUN awards for our SimONU students

The 10 students - coming from Bordeaux and Marseille campuses to defend the interests of their assigned country (the United Kingdom) - won an award for the quality of their preparatory research work and the relevance of their proposals on the following topic: "gender equality and empowerment of women".

This award is the culmination of over 4 months of work involving our students learning about UK foreign policy, advocating on issues as varied and complex as the status of the occupied territories, nuclear safety, gender equality and post-cold war development.

KEDGE students were able to talk to the students and professors present at the NMUN simulation in New York and discuss the impact of recent events on the World and the future of our societies. This simulation is a unique and enriching experience for them.

SimONU, an excellent learning environment to put into practice one of the school's pedagogical concepts: learning by doing

"The aim of negotiation is to meet the needs of the represented country while not endangering others. It is about finding a sustainable solution, maintaining interests or improving a current situation. This involves certain skills and mechanisms to be put in place, including verbal and non-verbal behaviour. For example, I teach the students to use " that makes sense " in their sentences to get approval from the Americans.  I also coach the kedgers during simulations to observe how negotiations are conducted and to boost the teams. The strategies we use to demonstrate our expertise are effective and regularly earn us awards."

VINCENT FREY, NEGOTIATION PROFESSOR AT KEDGE

Next meeting on November 4-6, 2022 in Washington!