Striving to lead one of the first fully high school student run MUN conferences in Kuwait, Secretary General Sarah Tahir discusses preparations and how delegates can prepare for Kuwait International MUN (KIMUN) in this pre conference guide.
Kymberley: What is KIMUN? How would you describe it?
Sarah: It’s the first international three day conference in Kuwait, the conference is open to high school students from Kuwait and from the Middle East region.
Kymberley: How would you define your conference’s theme of Managing Globalization?
Sarah: Picking the conference theme was difficult, I wanted to find something that was not a cliche and I came across an article in the New York Times, entitled “Managing Globalization”, the article was about how the world’s problems unite us as a community and we share a common culture. I thought that was a cool idea to develop because it has so many implications from different disciplines. You have to look at the economics behind it and the social aspects.
Sarah Tahir, the Secretary General of Kuwait international MUN (KIMUN)
Kymberley: Why should delegates participate in KIMUN?
Sarah: We are completely student run. I think everyone working for our conference really wants to be there, they are in love with MUN. Personally, I’m in my senior year of high school and I cannot imagine going to high school without MUN. We all really enjoy the conferences and enjoy debating. We know how to provide that for our delegates and we know how to provide it at a higher level than other conferences.
Kymberley: Which KIMUN committees do you recommend for beginners?
Sarah: For beginners we have the Environmental Commission and Human Rights Commission.
Kymberley: Which KIMUN committees do you recommend for intermediate and advanced delegates?
Sarah: Security Council and I also recommend our Special Commission. The special commission is about technology in the 21st century, we will be discussing issues like bioethics and technology in outer space.
Kymberley: How can delegates prepare for KIMUN?
Sarah: Learning their countries inside out, also, our topics are mostly current issues, I suggest that delegates should stay aware of current events especially those linked to their commissions.
Kymberley: How can student officers prepare for KIMUN?
Sarah: We are still interviewing chair applicants, to those who applied, I think they should be interested in their commissions and the topics given in each commission. I think it’s important that chairs should not have the same sources for background guides and finding higher level credible sources that are interesting for delegates.
Kymberley: What are some personal challenges did the secretariat face in preparing KIMUN?
Sarah: There’s a lot of logistics to handle and other things we did not anticipate like the location. We had trouble securing our location earlier. Also, last year in Kuwait, we ran a MUN conference but the conference did not work out that well. That’s why some of the MUN directors here are a little hesitant to attend our conference, but we managed to convince some of them.
Kymberley: What does the secretariat wish to accomplish in KIMUN?
Sarah: We want to hold a very intellectually stimulating debate process and we want to excite our delegates.
The official website for KIMUN is here: http://www.kimunconference.org/#
