Welcoming over 164 students from over ten schools, the 2025 edition of the KIST Model United Nations Conference was held on Saturday, November 15. Many of our secondary MUN club members helped to organize and chair. A special shoutout to Jessica (G12A) (Secretary- General) and Lander (G12B) (Director-General) for the hard work and organization put into making the conference a great success!
The conference started off with an opening speech delivered by Mr. Bas Valckx, Deputy Head of the Public Diplomacy, Political, and Cultural Department. Focusing on the Netherlands’ long history of adaptation, both socially and environmentally, Mr. Valckx offered valuable insights into the importance of being adaptable and flexible during times of instability. He also presented on the Osaka Expo, which he helped oversee. After a short Q&A session, he presented a limited edition of Miffy, also known as “nijntje”
in Dutch, to the person who asked the best question. He also generously brought pins for all delegates, celebrating the relationship between Japan and the Netherlands.
After the opening ceremony, we split off into different committees. Middle school committees were for UNDP, FAO, and ECOSOC. High school committees were UNGA, UNSC, UNHCR and others. Topics were wide-ranging, addressing many significant issues, such as addressing sustainable recovery after natural disasters, state- sponsored propaganda, and satellite oversaturation in space.
Throughout the day, several debates occurred through various committees. For many middle school committees, things started off slowly with many learning the procedures. However, with the help of our chairs, many soon started gaining confidence in speaking and debating. By the time resolutions were presented, exciting debates with many points-of-information (POIs) were happening. For our high school committees, most started off strong, with speeches and countless POIs that attempted to break down each delegate’s stance. By the end of the day, all delegates were exhausted!
Next year, we hope to expand in committee and participation numbers, making MUN at KIST greater than ever! If you are a high-school student interested in MUN, please join us for the semester 2 MUN Club.
