On the 27 January, 12 of the Bede’s Model United Nations team travelled to represent Bhutan at The 57th annual Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN). We arrived at the World Forum with around 3,200 other delegates from over 100 countries ready for the day of lobbying ahead.
On the first day, Harrison, Immy, Zoe and Noor gave opening speeches based on the Bhutanese beliefs on different topics. Emilia was representing Czechia in the NATO committee which was discussing the situation in the Black Sea region and how to strengthen resilience against cyber and hybrid threats. She was the only delegate from the UK in her committee and later met with Mark Rutte, the current Secretary General of NATO.
At the end of the day, the Opening Ceremony commenced with a speech from Jan van Zanen, the Mayor of The Hague. The flags of all the participating delegations then paraded around the auditorium showing truly how many people were in attendance. This was followed by a speech from the Chair of the THIMUN Foundation, and later a keynote from Goda Mockutė, a leading academic in the ethics of AI. All speeches were centred around the topic of The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Humanity which was the theme of this year's conference.
On the second day we all made great achievements in all of our respective committees. To start the day, in the NATO committee, Emilia listened to opening remarks from Erik-Jan Van Oosterhout, Chief Political Counsellor of the Netherlands Mission to NATO in Brussels and immediately started working hard to encourage her fellow representatives to find compromises in order to adapt NATO to a world of strategic competition. In other committees, Zoe, Hau Tak, Joseph and I all put forward Points of Information (POIs) towards other delegates. My POI questioned how AI in healthcare would be implemented in less economically developed countries. A resolution co-submitted by Immy was debated by the first subcommittee of the Sustainable Development Commission. Immy spoke twice in defence of this and responded to three POIs; her resolution passed. Zoe also spoke in defence of an amendment aiming to remove British armed forces from Cyprus.
It was a quick start on the third day with Zoe asking a POI on the topic of the sovereignty of France over New Caledonia. In my committee there was a very heated debate on the topic of access to abortion. Emilia passed an amendment on space bases and lobbied hard for unanimity against an intransigent delegate from Slovenia. Hamish contributed with three POIs, one being on the topic of forest fires being crucial for clearing space for rejuvenation. Harrison made a speech in defence of an amendment which was for the implementation of both regulated AI usage, as well the creation of a new committee designed to share information about AI to all countries.
It was another successful start to the last day of THIMUN with Prithvi Ann Sharma-Joehnk making an early speech against a resolution that was aiming to restrict Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). There were POIs from Bea and Hau Tak, and Immy passed an amendment on the topic of sustainable fishing measures. Hau Tak also gave a speech in favour of an amendment that added measures tackling illicit transactions. The resolution I co-submitted was debated and passed which enhanced women and girls' access to education in rural areas. Another resolution drafted primarily by Joseph was selected for debate in his committee, but he was unfortunately delayed due to a tram malfunction on the way to the conference! The sight of the closing ceremony will not be forgotten with every country waving its flag, including Zoe who was carrying the Bhutanese flag.
Instead of going back to the hotel by tram, a lot of us walked back with Mr McIntosh past the Peace Palace. This holds the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) both of which work towards the settlements of disputes. Bea, Mabel and Emilia approached someone who had just left the palace and asked what he did. He replied that he was a cleaner but they didn’t realise that he was joking until he revealed he was a judge on the PCA.
As the conference was now over, we took the opportunity to take in some more local culture, by visiting Mauritshuis art gallery, where we saw the painting of the Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer and where The Bull by Paulus Potter is being restored. This was an excellent way to finish our time in the Hague.
This experience has definitely taught us all a lot. For a lot of us it was the first time talking in front of a large audience, which increased our confidence in public speaking. Everyone met new people from all over the world and it was inspiring to listen to world leaders. Thank you to Mr McIntosh and Ms Webster for organising this amazing opportunity for us and all their help preparing for the conference.
