Model UN

The topic for our two day conference was the Syrian Refugee Crisis. We represented countries, built alliances and discussed possible resolutions. I represented Iran in Committee 6. The purpose of this project was to learn about the war that has pushed the refugee count to its highest number since World War 2 and to understand who and what the UN does.

Iran: Research

Iran is located in Asia. They are a Islamic theocratic republic. Iran is one of the main supporters of Assad. They are apart of the axis of resistance. Iran is home to almost one million documented and over two million undocumented Afghan refugees. They have recently allowed all undocumented Afghan children access to formal education and all registered Afghan refugees are now included in the national health insurance scheme. 

Most Useful Article goes to...

This article was very useful to me because it told me what others think about the role Iran plays in this war. In order for me to fully understand and prepare for the conference, I needed to know what the other side thinks and why they think it. I found this article by searching "iran syrian refugee crisis" on Google. An interesting piece of information about Iran that I learned from this article is that they have some power to bring resolution to the war, which would slow down the amount of refugees, but they continue to support Assad.  

Position Paper

I cut out repetitive sentences and added a few sentences to support what I already had between my three different drafts. One helpful piece of critique was from Alejandro. He told me I should explain more about the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees. This improved my piece because it gave the reader more context and explained why it was relevant to mention. Another helpful piece of critique was suggesting to split the first sentence into two. This was also from Alejandro. This improved my piece because these are the type of things you don't catch until someone brings it to your attention. Overall I am the most proud of writing in Iran's perspective. The main question we had to focus on was why is this a problem. That's a hard question to answer when your the one causing the problem. I had to remember who I was representing and think about what they were doing and why they were doing it. 

Opening Speech

I added more statistics for my second draft to lengthen it. A good piece of critique I received was from Melissa and Paola. They told me to add more to my solution. This improved my piece because it gave a reason for my solution, the solution made sense after explaining it. Now that I've experienced Model UN, I would be more clear about why I'm stating certain things and the point I am trying to get across if I were to do it again. 

Conference

Personally, I am most proud of actually talking. I am not super shy but I wouldn't say I am the most outgoing either. I don't like uncertainty and politics isn't my strong suit. I don't feel confident talking about politics, let alone having to know facts and represent a different opinion. Just talking a little bit was enough to make me feel accomplished. 

I'm proud that my committee pushed each other to think deeper. If one country had even a hint of uneasiness at the sound of another country's plan they weren't afraid to voice it. This made us think, and more importantly think ahead. 

If we were to do it again, I would create two groups who are against each other earlier in the conference so we have more time to discuss the pros and cons of the two resolutions. It's important to listen to the opposing side to understand the flaws in your own resolution and that is something I feel that we didn't get in our committee. 

Next year, to help students be more prepared, answer and listen to their questions! Politics is tricky to understand and can be intimidating to go into when you have louder voices. Help them understand and give them the most time possible to research. 

Key Moment

A moment during the conference that really changed the game was actually in the middle of the second day. An alliance was formed the day before between Syria, the United States and Australia to focus on defeating ISIS and to build safe zones. The trio were pretty set on their alliance despite questioning from other countries. We were set on our resolution and the majority of countries were donating something to the cause. It was all good up until the United States said they were withdrawing any alliances they built during the conference. This created a chain reaction and a lot of countries starting backing out of their donations. It was a big game changer.