On the 21st of January, 17 KICS students travelled to The Hague to attend the 44th annual The Hague International Model United Nations Conference (THIMUN). Over 3500 students worldwide attended this conference, travelling from countries such as the Philippines, France, America, Brazil and even South Africa.

THIMUN is considered the definitive MUN high school conference with more than 3,500 students from around the world participating.

For the fifth consecutive year, KICS was invited to attend THIMUN and this year was the most exciting for us yet, with by far our largest and most experienced delegation to travel to The Hague. This year we represented two delegations: the Delegation of Armenia and the delegation of the FAO. In previous years we have represented The Holy See (the Vatican), the Republic of Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Laos PDR.

In addition, two of our students applied and were accepted into more challenging positions at the conference. Christopher, Year 13 was accepted as one of the Student Officers at this student-run event as a Co-Chair of the Human Rights Council. Rayan, Year 13 was accepted to be one of 15 Judges in the highly esteemed International Court of Justice.   

Alexi (Year 12), Raveena (Year 11) and Mazin (Year 13) all gave Opening Speeches in their respective councils (each council with more than 100 students). Alexi also served as the Armenian Delegations’ Ambassador, while Reem (Year 11) was the Head of the FAO delegation. As such they were both a part of both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Being in a conference with 3000 plus other students was intimidating at first, some students have been to over 10 conferences (one student have been to 21 other conferences), however the KICS group soon started to fit in. We were separated into twelve different councils and committees, each working to resolve different issues, ranging from stopping ghost fishing to disarmament, Syria, human rights issues and the environment. This year’s conference theme was Seas and Oceans.

We settled in on Sunday, and after registering we went and looked around The Hague. Monday was our first day of being in our respective councils as well as going to the Opening Ceremony; we lobbied and merged our clauses with other delegations in our councils, trying to make sure that our solutions were included in the final resolutions. Tuesday was our first day in session, we listened to several opening speeches and then in the afternoon, we started debating. Wednesday morning, councils continued debating on resolutions and in the afternoon we all went into Amsterdam and then after a few hours of shopping and dinner, we returned to The Hague. Thursday was another full day of debating resolutions and many KICS students had to speak in front of more than 100 people, arguing their points. Friday was the final day we debated our final resolutions and then attended the closing ceremony. Several KICS students contributed to the final resolutions and were very proud to see them finally passed. 

Whilst the THIMUN trip was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun , we had a unique chance to get to meet people our age, who shared our interests from all around the world and we all formed friendships over the course of the week. THIMUN is not all about work, the friendships made go on even once the conference. Overall we all had an unforgettable and amazing week that we won’t ever forget.

Below are some quotes from some of the students who went on the trip:

Alexios (Year 12) : “ I had an amazing experience in terms of debating, as well as just listening to other speeches and gaining new knowledge and perspectives.’

Dena (Year 10 ) : ‘ THIMUN was so much fun for so many different reasons, at first speaking was terrifying , whilst debating and listening to different countries opinions on the various topics was interesting,  I found getting to know other delegates from around the world the most interesting and fun part’

Eman (Year 12) : ‘ this was my second time attending THIMUN and yet again it was an incredible experience”

Raveena (Year 11): "I'm going to be looking to lift a plaque card for a point of information in class instead of raising my hand for the next month"
 
Umnia (Year 12) : “ no words can describe how amazing it was”

Layal(Year 13) : “ the people there were so smart - it was like they OWNED the countries”

The 2012 THIMUN Delegation