By Rebecca J. Flavin, senior lecturer in political science and Model UN advisor

On Nov. 18-28, 2022, seven members of Baylor’s Model United Nations Team traveled to Kobe, Japan, to participate in the National Model United Nations (NMUN) Japan conference. Baylor’s team represented Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania in four committees that simulated the work of the United Nations General Assembly (GA), Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Security Council (SC), and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Committee (NPT). The topics the students researched in advance and discussed at conference included:

• Promoting Mental Health and Improving Access to Care (GA);
• Adapting Energy Systems for Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation (GA);
• Addressing Food Security in a Globalized World (ECOSOC);
• Promoting Sustainable Economic Participation of Youth (ECOSOC);
• Practical Measures to Implement Article VI (NPT);
• Strengthening Measures for Nuclear Security (NPT);
• The Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SC); and
• Strengthening Women’s Role in Peacebuilding (SC).

At the conclusion of the conference, Baylor’s team was named an overall Outstanding Delegation, the highest team award given at Model UN conferences. In addition, every member of Baylor’s team received individual recognition with some delegates receiving multiple awards. The team received Outstanding Position Paper Awards in three out of the four committees in which it participated, recognizing research completed in advance of conference and received Outstanding Delegation Awards in three out of the four committees in which it participated in recognition of work done in committee at conference. In other words, the team won nearly every award it could possibly win at the conference! The full list of award winners is provided below, but more important than the awards the team brought home to Baylor was the exceptional educational experience afforded by the conference, which was just the second international conference held outside the U.S. Baylor students have attended.

More than 300 students from more than 40 universities from around the world participated in NMUN-Japan 2022, which was co-hosted by the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies (KCUFS). KCUFS students led the conference attendees on cultural visits to Kobe, Hiroshima, and Kyoto before the conference sessions officially began on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

The visit to Hiroshima was especially important, given the conference’s focus on topics related to peaceful uses of nuclear energy as well as nuclear disarmament. In Hiroshima, the delegates visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Atomic Bomb Dome, Children’s Peace Monuments, and the Peace Memorial Museum, which is dedicated to documenting the horrors of nuclear weapons and advocating for nuclear non-proliferation. The cultural experience also included a moving testimony from Ms. Ogura Keiko, a survivor of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, who shared her first-hand account of the events of the day and the aftermath. Student guides from KCUFS taught the NMUN delegates how to make origami paper cranes, which are a symbol of peace that has a special meaning for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park where there are displays of thousands of paper cranes made by students from around the world. The nearly 1,000 paper cranes made by Baylor students and others attending the conference will be added to the peace display.

The conference plenary sessions were especially enriching for our students, and included a panel discussion on Sustainable Peace moderated by Mr. Tetsuo Kondo, who is the Director of the Representation Office in Tokyo of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and provided perspectives from individuals who work for the UN, NGOs, as well as businesses and others in the private sector. The opening ceremony featured welcome remarks delivered remotely by Setsuko Thurlow, the 2017 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Thurlow is a survivor of the August 1945 atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and in her remarks to the NMUN-Japan students she reiterated the heightened importance of nuclear non-proliferation in the context of the current war in Ukraine.

The conference’s closing session remarks from Izumi Nakamistu, the UN Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, charged the students to take the lessons they learned at the conference and apply them in their professions as the next generation of leaders working to promote peace and sustainability. Baylor’s team left the conference energized and excited to make their mark on the world around them.

Baylor’s Model UN team would not have had this amazing opportunity without the generous financial support it received from departments across the University. The team is grateful for support received from:

• The Baylor Business Fellows Excellence Fund
• The Center for Global Engagement
• The College of Arts & Sciences
• The Department of Economics
• The Department of Political Science
• The Hankamer School of Business
• The McBride Center for International Business, and
• The Program in International Studies.

This conference marks just the mid-point in an exciting year for our team. In February 2023, eight students will participate in the Texas Model United Nations Conference (TexMUN) in Austin, Texas, representing the United States, Poland, and Kenya. In April 2023, 16 students will represent Poland at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York; team auditions for the New York conference will take place in late February.

Individual Award Winners

Outstanding Position Paper Award Winners

• General Assembly: Isabella Zarate (assistant head delegate, sophomore, international studies & environmental studies) and Izzy De La Hoz Estrada (junior, mathematics)
• Economic and Social Council: Omar Islam (junior, economics & political science) and Emily Warwick (senior, political science & economics)
• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Committee: Chris Seifert (junior, international studies)

Outstanding Delegates in Committee

• General Assembly: Isabella Zarate (assistant head delegate, sophomore, international studies & environmental studies) and Izzy De La Hoz Estrada (junior, mathematics)
• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Committee: Ethan Moore (senior, political science) and Chris Seifert (junior, international studies)
• Security Council: Drue Powers (co-head delegate, junior, Baylor Business Fellows) and Krish Kothari (co-head delegate, junior, political science)

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Photo Information

At top: The Baylor team at the NMUN Japan conference (left to right): Chris Seifert (junior, international studies), Drue Powers (junior, Baylor Business Fellows), Ethan Moore (senior, political science), Isabella Zarate (sophomore, international studies & environmental studies), Izzy De La Hoz Estrada (junior, mathematics) and Krish Kothari (junior, political science)

Next photo: The Baylor MUN team during a cultural visit to Kiyomizu Temple, in Kyoto, Japan (bottom row, left to right): Isabella Zarate (sophomore, international studies & environmental studies), Izzy De La Hoz Estrada (junior, mathematics) and Omar Islam (junior, economics & political science); (top row, left to right): Chris Seifert (junior, international studies), Drue Powers (junior, Baylor Business Fellows), Ethan Moore (senior, political science), and Krish Kothari (junior, political science)