Last week, after months of tireless preparation, Iona’s Model U.N. team traveled to Washington D.C. to compete in their first conference of the academic year.  

While at the National Model U.N. conference in Washington DC, NMUN.DC, the team of 12 delegates in Washington D.C. represented the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The team collaborated with students from schools across the world in a simulation of the actual U.N., working to pass resolutions on real topics affecting our world today. In the end, the team was awarded an Honorable Mention for their performance.  

NMUN.DC provides an opportunity for students to take on the position of an assigned country and work with other delegations within the various committees. While there, participants have opportunities to write speeches, practice public diplomacy, work collaboratively with others and network for opportunities in global politics. The process revolves around debating a real-life topic with other delegates and then working in a group to create a resolution outlining solutions within the reach of the U.N.  

For months before the conference, the team met twice a week to research and prepare. They worked on writing position papers outlining Ethiopia’s position on topics and practice procedure in a test trial of the Model U.N. simulation. All members of the club put in hours of work. New members got adjusted with the process of Model U.N. being led by the e-board.  

In three days, Iona’s team worked across six different committees, including the U.N. General Assembly, U.N. Enviornmental Assembly, Food and Agriculture and the U.N. Development Programme. In each committee, co-delegates either worked together or individually on papers, which were voted on to become resolutions.  

At the conference, the team was led by their head delegates Eamon Kobel, who is one of the club’s co-presidents, and Kaylynn Carrasquillo, who is the team coordinator. Both seniors have attended many conferences since joining their freshman year. They used their experiences to help guide the new members and make sure all participants could enjoy their time at the conference and have a valuable educational opportunity.  

“The team coordinator and I, both head delegates for Iona’s delegation, are enormously proud of all of the first time and veteran delegates’ accomplishments”, Kobel said. “It was not easy and a lot of hard work in preparation and it has certainly paid off.”  

The team hopes to attend more conferences in the future and represent Iona once again in opportunities such as this one.