Santa Barbara Intercollegiate MUN Recap (SBIMUN 2016)

This is a guest post written  by Brett McDaniel, Director-General of SBIMUN 2016

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Taking place at the sunny, oceanside campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara on November 18-20, 2016, SBIMUN 2016 got underway with roughly 200 delegates from across California and even from as far as Arizona (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) and Nevada (UNLV).

Delegates participated in three traditional committees simulating bodies within the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (1st DISEC, UNEP, and the International Civil Aviation Organization) as well as several crisis committees including the UNSC, a Historical Crisis of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill, and a Joint Regional Crisis Committee with the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

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Belgium in DISEC discussing Nuclear Disarmament in the 21st Century.

 

As Secretary-General of SBIMUN 2016, Lisa Maillard, opened the conference, delegates began to shuffle towards their committee rooms. Throughout the weekend, debate was rigorous and often involved numerous member states adapting to the changing environments of geopolitical relations and the occasional curveball of an update in Crisis. DISEC considered the current state of Nuclear Disarmament in the 21st Century meanwhile UNEP was engaged in the work regarding Climate Refugees and the discussion of what may lay ahead for the definition of a Refugee.

Furthermore, the ICAO deliberated just how the environment of civil aviation and the security of aircraft could be better facilitated in the international sphere. However, the crisis committees discussed numerous pertinent concerns including the future of the South China Seas and the regional disputes that can arise amongst the P5 States in the United Nations Security Council. The BP Board of Directors in our Historical Crisis Committee transported themselves back to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill, yet not without some controversial business maneuvers that engaged some members with claims of political corruption.

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Delegates in the UN Security Council discussing the South China Seas.

Moreover, as the three days passed, so did the numerous directives of the Joint Regional Crisis Committees. With the presence of the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the religious, cultural, and political ties to the region clashed and in many ways steered the two separate committees as each attempted to create regional efforts to account for the rising tensions of Islamophobia and its effects on the current Global Refugee Crisis. As delegates consulted with our Crisis Staff, plans got initiated that made changes both on the table and off the record, each having its own outcomes that in the end concluded with numerous claims of secession, the end to the Boko Haram and even a Hungarian-backed Pope.

Outside of committee, delegates got the chance to experience Isla Vista in a way that is normally kept to UCSB students – through food! Each committee went together to numerous popular restaurants including Hana Kitchen, South Coast Deli, and Woodstocks among others and became closer as friends outside of the debate. And to cap off the second day of the conference, our President of UCSB Model United Nations, Sumit Kumar, hosted the delegate social which left many delegates with more friends and memories than before Opening Ceremonies.

Check out the rest of the Conference Photos here

Delegation Awards

Best Large Delegation: University of Southern California

Best Small Delegation: University of California, Los Angeles

Other schools with multiple award winners included College of the Canyons, Pomona College, San Diego State University, Soka University of America, UC Davis, UC Merced, UC San Diego, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)

Thank you to all Staff, Chairs, Crisis Directors, and countless other individuals who contributed to the success of SBIMUN 2016 and the future success of UCSB Model United Nations and its conferences SBIMUN and GauchoMUN!

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