The ISP MUN amplifies the voice of tomorrow’s leaders by placing students in the shoes of a UN diplomat.

ISP students from around the world come together to experience an educational simulation of a real UN Conference. This activity invites the school community to join a real-life committee representing a country’s delegation. The task is to debate with other countries to solve an international issue in a diplomatic manner following the ideals from the Charter of the United Nations.

Student delegates learn about diplomacy, international relations, research techniques, public speaking, debating, compromise, and writing skills in addition to improving their critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership abilities.

Delegates are placed in committees and assigned countries. They are presented with their assignments in advance, along with a topic for their committee to discuss. Delegates carry out research ahead of conferences and formulate positions which they then debate with fellow delegates staying true to the actual position of the member country they represent. At the end of an MUN, the best performing delegates from each committee, as well as delegations, are usually recognised with trophies and/or awards.

Thanks to our partnership with IMUNA, delegates receive training from experts in a range of skills before the conference. IMUNA is a not-for-profit organisation formally associated with the United Nations dedicated to promoting global issues education through simulation.

Previous years

ISP MUN conferences typically last for just over a week and are hosted by a different ISP school each year; making it an invaluable international and cultural experience for our students to take with them into their future. Beyond the debates, ISP students discover more about the diversity of the host country, meet people from different countries and cultures making connections from around the world and foster long-term friendships.

The first ISP MUN entitled ‘Together we can make a difference’ was hosted at Laude, The Lady Elizabeth School in Spain. The delegates discussed and debated topics including the Denuclearization of DPRK and Solving the Economic and Political Crisis in Venezuela.

The second annual ISP MUN entitled ‘Solving Issues – Building the Future’ took place at St. Jude School in Costa Rica in April 2019. Around 90 students aged 15-18 years old from 11 ISP schools in Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, and Spain took part in the unforgettable opportunity.

In May 2021, we delivered the first ISP Virtual MUN. Over three days, more than 200 delegates debated about pressing topics and developed their diplomatic skills in a virtual setup. To make the experience even more immersive, we arranged for UN staff, NGO leaders and top university researchers to visit each committee to answer direct questions from our students.

This year the conference will take place virtually again to allow for broader participation of schools that want to join. We hope to host the 2023-24 MUN conference in person at several of our schools in the future.

Learning Objectives

• Practise and develop skills in organisation, leadership, and responsibility.
  
• Develop critical thinking skills about complex global issues.
  
• Build skills in research, public speaking, debating, teamwork, negotiation, problem-solving, and conflict resolution within a multicultural framework.
  
• Develop greater knowledge and understanding of language, geography, history, international relations & diplomacy, environmental issues, traditions, lifestyle, and culture.
  
• Participate in a unique international and cultural learning experience that enables them to interact with other ISP students across the world.
  
• Explore new ways of thinking and learn from each other as they work to achieve consensus across diverse points of view.