Committees
Dear Delegates,
It is an honour to present to you Vancouver Model United Nations 2012’s stunning lineup of committees. You will find humanitarian, economic, diplomatic, and scientific issues represented, not to mention headline-grabbing threats to international security. We have no doubt that there is a topic and a committee for everyone at this year’s conference.
General Assemblies
VMUN will be running, this year, no less than nine different committees. We will host four large General Assemblies, WTO, SOCHUM, and our traditional mainstays of the WHO and DISEC. The latter three will be especially appropriate for beginner delegates, while the WTO will be able to provide the quintessential experience that defines a massive General Assembly amidst two more challenging topics.
Specialized Agencies
Also on our committee roster will be five smaller Specialized Agencies. UNEP will be perfect for newer delegates wishing for a gentle introduction to MUN, but in the unique atmosphere of a smaller, more focused committee. Rounding out our topic fields are UNODC and AU, both of which will deal with vital issues in our turbulent world. Finally, the two most difficult committees at VMUN 2012 will once again be the pair of Joint Crisis Cabinets—very different from the standard MUN experience—and the prestigious United Nations Security Council.
Difficulty
As mentioned, we have classified SOCHUM, WHO, DISEC, and UNEP as Beginner committees, and WTO, UNODC, and AU as Advanced. Although a balance of new and experienced delegates will be maintained on each committee, less experienced or beginner delegates will be able to find in our Beginner committees an environment in which they can excel. That being said, dedicated beginners will be able to conquer the challenge of the Advanced committees and are encouraged to apply, and experienced delegates will feel equally at home on any of these committees. The difficult Joint Crisis Cabinets represent a much more diverse challenge than any other committee, but remain an avenue to the highest echelons of MUN available to the most dedicated beginner delegates. Lastly, the United Nations Security Council will accept only delegates of significant prior experience or exceptional potential.
Preparation
Before closing, we cannot underestimate the importance of preparation to your VMUN experience. Whether this is your first, tenth, or last conference, we urge you to make it count. Armed with a full understanding of the issues at hand and an arsenal of relevant information, you will be well placed to succeed and enjoy the conference. We would like to remind you that position papers will be accepted up to two or three weeks prior to the conference. Position papers are mandatory for all committees except for General Assemblies, but the directors of WHO, DISEC, SOCHUM, and UNEP highly encourage you to send them position papers and award winners will be picked from the those who have submitted them. Distilling your research into position papers will help you immensely, and encourage your dais to watch out for your puissant skill before the conference even starts! Furthermore, for 2012, VMUN will be testing the concept of position paper awards, offering a coveted Best Position Paper certificate to the best pre-conference researcher of each committee.
We hope you have had a chance to read through the above information, which will be invaluable in your committee selection and conference success. We now invite you to peruse the committee pages, which contain a wealth of information prepared for you by your world-class staff members.
Best of luck with your registration. Do not forget that, often, interest in a topic or committee is the best indicator for your committee choice. Feel free to email us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Zach Hauser
usgcommittees@vmun.com
Amelia Casey
committees2@vmun.com